Champion
by Catiel Winree
Summary: Ishikawa Miyuki was just walking through Japan one day and the next thing she knew she was in the Great Demon Kingdom! Caught in the middle of a fight between a blonde and the son of an old friend, she isn't quite sure what to do. ConradxOC
1. Dream is reality

WARNING! I DON'T OWN KKM! I REALIZE that my character develops into a Mary Sue and I DON'T care. The only 'god-modding' that my character ever really does (Spoiler, if you care) is she is able to use all four elements, I don't care if that's a no-no or whatever, I randomly thought of this when I was really bored one night at work and I wrote it down anyways. I did this for fun, if you don't like it. DON'T READ IT! Thank you. Have fun.

I'm not sure what happened. One moment I was walking down the streets of Japan, next thing I know I'm standing between Shibuya and a blonde in a castle courtyard that I recognized from a dream. I'm not quite sure what Shibuya was doing here or why he wasn't wearing a shirt, I thought it was just another dream of mine, but I recognized the look on the blonde's face, pure malice. He'd been chanting something and fire was forming his hand. Maryoku! The word flashed my mind. Why? I'm not sure; I think its magic of the sort.

No one had seemed to notice me yet and the fire had turned into a giant lion! He seemed to be planning to send it after Shibuya. This confused me a little bit, Shibuya Yuuri was probably the nicest person I have ever known, what he have done to this lovely blonde to make him so mad?

The blonde pointed at Shibuya and the black haired 15 year old didn't look like he was going to move!

I heard a man's voice off to the side, but couldn't understand what he said. Shibuya still hadn't moved.

"Damnit Shibuya! MOVE!" I yelled as a tackled the boy. The lion shot over our heads.

"Ishikawa-san! What are y -?" Shibuya's question was cut off as we heard a scream from behind us. We looked up in time to see the fire lion hit a column and a girl dressed in pink. The girl fell to the floor.

Shibuya and I stood up. I was surprised to see storm clouds forming in the sky above us. It had previously been so clear!

"How dare you?" I heard Shibuya say behind me. It was weird. I could swear his voice had just dropped an octave are too. I looked over at him. Holy Shit! He was glowing as well! And his hair had grown… He had gotten more mature looking in the past 2 seconds. He'd even gotten taller!

"Does your anger know no restraints?" he asked, turning to look at the (now terrified) blonde. "You bring an innocent girl into a fight?" Shibuya looked pissed, "It is not my way to shed blood, but you give me no choice. Justice be done!" he held his arms out straight to both sides and I jumped backwards as two streams of water came flying out of the palms out of his hands! More maryoku! I'm not sure how Shibuya came to be able to use this magic, but I wasn't really in a position to ask.

The water turned into twin dragons that twined around the blonde and picked him up.

"Put me down!" He cried over and over again.

"Wolfram Von Bielefelt." Shibuya said, "You must change your ways immediately." The boy he called Wolfram screamed as the dragons squeezed tighter.

"Shibuya!" I cried. He turned and looked at me, "Stop it. You're hurting him!"

"You have no jurisdiction here."

Oh no he did not just tell me off! I felt my temper ignite.

"Shibuya Yuuri put him down now." I stopped my foot decisively and to my surprise the ground lurched in a wave towards Shibuya, knocking him off balance. I felt a little dizzy all of a sudden.

"Fine." He said looking at me with a slightly curious look on his face, "I will be merciful this time. Just… Remember… My mark….." with that he turned back to his normal self and passed out.

"Shibuya, are you all right?" I asked, staggering towards the fallen teenager, a myriad of thoughts running through my mind.

This is so weird! What's Shibuya doing in the world of my dreams? What's going on? And why is the ground getting closer?

My world suddenly went black.

Thank you, if you got this far. If you want the next chapter feel free to Review and/or PM me. If you don't... Well I don't want to hear it so go away. Otherwise, Let me know what you think. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ONLY (Please) PEOPLE!


	2. Lady Champion

WARNING! I DON'T OWN KKM! I REALIZE that my character develops into a Mary Sue and I DON'T care. The only 'god-modding' that my character ever really does (Spoiler, if you care) is she is able to use all four elements, I don't care if that's a no-no or whatever, I randomly thought of this when I was really bored one night at work and I wrote it down anyways. I did this for fun, if you don't like it. DON'T READ IT! Thank you. Have fun.

A/N: I don't feel like being overly descriptive at the moment, and I probably won't want to be anytime in the near future so it'd probably be best if you had a mild background knowledge on KKM, mainly who the main characters are I suppose. Oh yeah, if my writing style seems weird it's because I don't normally write in first person, it is quite new for me to actually post something like this because I usually scrap it. I like being able to let the reader know a little bit more about what EVERY characte is thinking rather than one, anyways, rambling. One last thing.

Shinou = Great One, or Original King (I believe)

(Soukoku no) Daikenja = Great Wise Man (of Double Black)

Soukoku = Double-black (referring to eyes and hair)

* * *

I wasn't entirely sure whether or not I'd really woke up. It was still pitch black, but I could swear my eyes were open.

I sat up real slowly, not bothering to look around. What would be the point? I'd already figured out it was to dark to see.

"Where am I?" I don't know why I asked the question out loud. I wasn't even sure what had... oh! It all came back to me in a flas. The fight with Shibuya, the maryoku (still don't know why I know what this is), my passing out after Shibuya had... come to think of it...

"How long was I out?" I muttered to myself as I rubbed my head. I let my hand fall and winced as it connected with something cold and _hard_. I knew instantly where I was and why I hurt all over as though I'd slept on something very hard. I _had_. I was in a dungeon!

Yay me... What did I do to deserve this eh? I pulled a mock thinking pose, with my hand fondling my chin but stopped when it made my head pound. I felt horrible, more so than sleeping on a slab of concrete could do to me. Why was that?

_Its because you've used maryoku for the first time in a few centuries._

I twisted my head around to the left and then to the right, ignoring the pounding the movement caused. "Who said that?" I asked.

_Me._ I felt my eye twitch.

"Who the hell is 'me'?" I asked, my annoyance meter getting ever closer to it's shattering point. I heard the voice sigh slightly.

_Me, as in _YOU_... Well, in a sense I guess._

"That doesn't make any sense" I said, laughing humorlessly, "I mean, I know I've talked to myself before but this is ridiculous. I..." I stopped, "I guess I don't really know what to say in this sort of situation."

_You want to know exactly why it is you know this world. Why you recognize certain things, and also why you hurt more than you think you should._ I felt my jaw drop. Just who, or what, was this person... voice... thing?

_I already told you, I'm you._ Okay, it can read minds now? Oh wait, if it _was_ me it wouldn't technically be reading my mind then would it. I peered suspiciously into the darkness.

"Alright... me... Tell me why." I decided I'd go along with it for now, I guess. It wouldn't exactly hurt anything would it? I heard the voice chuckle.

_No, it certainly wouldn't._

"Okay, you need to stop that." I said, emphasizing the word 'stop', "I don't care if you say that you are me or whatever, but _please_ stop reading my thoughts!"

_Fine._ I heard a familiar huff of annoyance, maybe this voice really was me. I did that all the time when I was annoyed. Okay, creeping me out.

_First, I should probably clarify. I'm you, but at the same time I'm _NOT_ you I'm... Gah, this is harder to explain then I thought!_ It sounded like a cry of frustration. _Well, lets say that you are a reaincarnation of my will is your own, but the soul is the same. And... well..._ I chuckled slightly as it became clear to me what exactly this thing was talking about. I'd seen it plenty of times in the manga I'd read and the anime I'd seen.

"I think I get it." I said smiling, "Your soul is mine, but everytime you were reincarnated the personality of the host changed, therefore, in a way, creating a new person entirely with the memories of all that was before?" I frowned, "But in my case, I don't remember any 'before'" I heard it (her? It definately sounded female to me now) sigh in relief.

_You definitely are a smart one aren't you. Yes. That's what I was trying to tell you. And you've had dreams about this place haven't you?_ _It's because you share a connection with this place. It's called-_

"Shin Makoku, yeah I know." I rubbed my forehead, "But I never knew why I knew that. I guess I do now. So, is there something I can call you? A name or something? From the way your talking this whole 'reincarnating soul' started with you, didn't it?" I paused for a while to give her a chance to answer, but that answer was long in coming. Finally she spoke.

_Yes. It did start with me, and I'll tell you why when I feel that your ready to know why. Though you might figure that out on your own. Can you remember anything of the history of Shin Makoku and her people?_ I thought hard, trying to remember what I'd seen in my dreams.

"Well, I know that it was founded by a man called Shinou and his companions. And that Shinou is practically a god to Shin Makoku's people even after death." I frowned, "Although, he's not technically dead. His soul resides in Shinou's temple. Right?"

_That's part of it, yes. There were two of his companions that are more famous then the rest, the soukoku Daikenja who was his main strategist, as well as another soukoku warrior known as-_

"Champion." I said the name along with her while at the same time recalling an image of a tall woman who looked a lot like me with the same black hair and eyes, as well as a stubborn smirk on her face, standing on a battlefield with sword raised, "No one other than Shinou and the Daikenja knew her actual name. All others just called her Champion."

_Yes._

"Let me guess. You are her? So, in a sense _I_ am her?" That would explain why the woman in my dreams bore a striking resemblance to me (though before I'd just thought it was because it was _my_ dream). I swear I could _hear_ her smile.

_Yes. You're definitely much quicker and smarter than any of the others who I've actually talked to. Most of them either ignored me or ran their mouths about it and were branded as insane._

"Gee, thanks. I've always been told the same thing by my professors." I replied, not meaning to sound sarcastic, although it came out that way. I don't think Champion noticed though, and if she did she probably didn't care.

_And rightly so._ She replied, _Well... That's all I can really explain to you for now. All that I want to that is. With the way you are I'm sure you'll end up figuring stuff out before I need to tell you to much more,_ I started to protest but she cut me off, _besides, someone is coming._ I closed my mouth and listened hard, there _were_ footsteps coming from the direction I now figured the door to be, as well as voices. Voices that I couldn't understand. I'm assuming Champion noticed this but the next thing she did confused me a little bit. _Quickly, close your eyes and take a deep breath. The least I can do is make things easier for you to live on here._ Confused, I followed her instructions, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath as I heard her mutter a few words.

"What do you think your doing Conrart? We don't know who she is or how she got into the castle! And on top of that she attacked his majesty." one voice said, it sounded like he was reprmanding his companion. My goodness! I could understand him! Champion didn't say anything, which made me wonder if she'd retreated back into the back of my mind or wherever it was she orignally came from.

"_After_ helping him, Gunter. I don't think she meant to 'attack' him if you want to call it that. Besides, we won't know anything unless we ask her will we? On top of that, she seemed to know His Majesty." the other replied. Who was 'His Majesty'? And when did I attack him? Or even help him? Wait a minute. The only person that I'd recently 'helped' was Shibuya, and then I'd gotten angry at him, but I didn't attack him. My eyes widened, he couldn't be the person they were referring to, could he? I reined in my thoughts and leaned back against the wall as I heard keys turn in a lock. Knowing that there would more than likely be light soon, I closed my eyes. I like being able to see, thanks.

Light hit the back of my eyelids as I heard the door open. I opened my eyes slowly, still blinking and squinting at the harsh light that was so different from the blackness my eyes had already become accustomed to. I could make out a silhouette in the doorway that instantly moved to me and grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the door where another person waited. I looked at the two as soon as we got out into the hallway and I felt my face turn red. Standing in front of me (and holding onto my arm) were probably the most good-looking people I'd ever seen before. One I can describe as being incredibly handsome, with dark brown eyes and light brown hair. The other one had lavender hair and eyes, making him fall under the category 'beautiful' rather than handsome.

Their outfits, well the lavender one's is difficult to describe, but they both looked like military uniforms of a sort. The fact that they both had swords at their sides strengthened my resolve in that fact. The brown-eyed man (I'm going to assume that this was the one named 'Conrart', considering the lavender-eyed man, what was it... Gunter, was glaring at me and what I'd gathered from the conversation I'd heard before they got me) said something, I didn't catch it I was still slightly busy staring at the both of them to be honest, and motioned for me to follow him.

* * *

Thank you, if you got this far. If you want the next chapter feel free to Review and/or PM me. If you don't... Well I don't want to hear it so go away. Otherwise, Let me know what you think. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ONLY (Please) PEOPLE!


	3. Familiar Faces?

WARNING! I DON'T OWN KKM! I REALIZE that my character develops into a Mary Sue and I DON'T care. The only 'god-modding' that my character ever really does (Spoiler, if you care) is she is able to use all four elements, I don't care if that's a no-no or whatever, I randomly thought of this when I was really bored one night at work and I wrote it down anyways. I did this for fun, if you don't like it. DON'T READ IT! Thank you. Have fun.

For the conversation with Champion, Yuki's thoughts are underlined and Champion's are _italicized_

Shinou = Great One, or Original King (I believe)

Heika = Your Majesty, NOT said in Japanese in the actually placing it's said in the native tongue of Shin Makoku, but I like this word better than 'Your Majesty' especially when it comes to Gunter. Screaming: "!" just is funnier than in English ^^;;

Soushu = The Originators (In English, blech. I prefer this name)

Maou = Demon King (Again, I prefer the Japanese title for it… If you can't tell I watched the fan subbed version before the official subbed xP)

* * *

We walked in silence for a while. I didn't know where we were going, but I felt if I were asked to go somewhere in this castle I'd be able to find the room needed with no problem at all. I guess that's part of Champion's memories. Ever Since she first started talking to me in that cell I'd been gradually 'remembering' (if you could call it that, more like seeing a movie) things from the past that I knew that I myself had never experienced before.

Something was bugging me. Itching at the back of my mind. I'd recognized Conrart and Gunter from somewhere as soon as I'd saw them, but I wasn't entirely sure why. I asked Champion (In my head, because I figured if she was a part of me, and she had contacted me first in the dungeon in my thoughts, so I figured I should be able to contact her at will, right?) why this might be.

_They look just like their ancestors._

Sorry?

_That man with the brown hair and eyes, he is of the Weller family. He looks just like his ancestor who fought with Shinou against Soushu. And the other one is of the von Christ family._

Mm… Okay, I guess. That would explain why I think I recognize them right?

_Yes, that would be the best explanation._

I looked at Conrart and blushed as he noticed and smiled at me. There was another thing; I'm tall for my age, not to mention in my family as well. I didn't know any of my siblings who even _reached_ five foot six, let alone my height of almost six feet (Okay, not six feet… More along the lines of five foot ten… But I guess that IS almost six feet isn't it…). I didn't feel out of place walking beside Conrart though, he was about a head taller than me.

I shivered suddenly, getting the feeling that someone, or some_thing_, was glaring at me. I looked over my shoulder. It was a 'someone'. Gunter, that lavender haired guy, was glaring at me and muttering under his breath, asking who I was and where I came from. I felt my annoyance meter almost reaching it's breaking limit, but I figured I might as well keep everything quiet and play the 'completely innocent and doesn't know anything that's going on' card until I absolutely had to do otherwise… or until my temper got the better of me.

A few minutes later I realized exactly where we were going, and it made me wonder why we were going that way. We were heading towards the office of the Maou (or one of them at least). Why are we going this way? I already said, I have no idea.

Conrart paused outside the door and knocked. "Heika, I have her with me now." Without waiting for an answer he opened the door and walked in, motioning for me to follow him, which I did, wondering what the current Maou would have to do with me.

* * *

Thank you, if you got this far. If you want the next chapter feel free to Review and/or PM me. If you don't... Well I don't want to hear it so go away. Otherwise, Let me know what you think. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ONLY (Please) PEOPLE!


	4. Yuuri is Demon King!

WARNING! I DON'T OWN KKM! I REALIZE that my character develops into a Mary Sue and I DON'T care. The only 'god-modding' that my character ever really does (Spoiler, if you care) is she is able to use all four elements, I don't care if that's a no-no or whatever, I randomly thought of this when I was really bored one night at work and I wrote it down anyways. I did this for fun, if you don't like it. DON'T READ IT! Thank you. Have fun.

Okay, the heika thing'll swap around a bit… Sorry if that makes anyone angry. But too bad. And yes, this is where she gets to be a bit… "Mary-sue-ish" and again, I. Don't. Care. I like screwing with people's heads and so does Yuki. Especially when she knows stuff that she KNOWS other people think she shouldn't know yet... Meh heh heh, that's the best.

* * *

I felt my jaw drop, mentally mind you, I have more control over my reactions than most people. It was Shibuya sitting at the desk that is designated for the Maou. How did I know thats who they were talking about? I felt myself getting angry, and I let my anger roll, it's how I would've reacted to this case if I hadn't been forewarned by Champion what was slightly going on. And even then, I still didn't know the whole story.

"Shibuya!" I yelled, marching past Conrart and up to the young man's desk. I slammed my hands down on the table, "Just what in the HELL is going on?" I yelled at him (In Japanese. Gotta keep the 'no idea whats going on' persona). I saw, out of the corner of my eye, everyone in the room go into a defensive stance, with their hands going towards the swords on their hips.

"Ishikawa-san," the teenager started, "Calm down would you? I'm not a hundred percent sure myself."

"Yuki."

"What?" he looked at me slightly confused.

"I've told you before, don't call me Ishikawa-san. It's Yuki. Call me Ishikawa-san again and I'll twist your arm behind your back." the confusion left his face.

"Ah," he stood up and walked around the desk, "Then, in retaliation to that statement, my name is Yuuri. I've asked you to go ahead and call me that before since you are such an old friend of the family." his expression changed to mock annoyance, "But you are just as formal as I am in this situation, that you've never complied." I felt my face turn slightly red.

"Touche." I glared at him ever so slightly, then I laughed and hugged him, "So _Yuuri_," I put emphasis on his name, teasing him a bit, "Explain." I noticed that when I hugged him the blonde in the corner of the room (the one that Yuuri was fighting when I first showed up) suddenly tensed up and started walking towards me, only to be stopped by another man, just as handsome as all the others I'd seen so far, with dark gray hair and striking blue eyes.

_Von Voltaire, Von Bielefelt._ Champion's voice flashed in my head when I looked at them.

So do they look like their ancestors too? I asked her.

_Yes. Very much so. Though the von Bielefelt of my time had much longer hair, and von Voltaire, shorter hair. It's... interesting to see someone who looks so much the same and yet completely different._ Her voice had a slightly melancholy feel to it, which kind of made me feel bad for her, although I'm not entirely sure why.

I must've been spaced for a few minutes longer than I thought because I heard Yuuri calling to me...

"Ishikawa-san!" In the name that I'd specifically told him not to (it makes me feel old! T_T). I felt his hand reach out and touch my shoulder. I grabbed his wrist and, making my martial arts sensei proud, twisted his arm behind his back. This action made everyone in the room draw their swords and jump towards me (except, I noticed, Conrart didn't do anything, although he was watching me rather closely).

"I told you I'd twist your arm if you called me Ishikawa-san again." I muttered, slightly angry. "I've complied, and called you Yuuri. Now _you_ have to do the same in return and NOT call me Ishikawa-san. If you feel like being even slightly formal about it, call me Yuki-senpai, _if you must_." I added a little more of my famous temper into those last three words, letting him know that even that would only be tolerated for a short amount of time. I felt something poke me in the back as I let him go, and looking over my shoulder I saw that blonde, von Bielefelt I believe is what Champion called him? I turned around with my hands in the air.

"Yes?" I asked him, though I knew he wouldn't understand me. The question in my tone, however did prompt him to answer.

"Hands off of him you lowlife." he raised the point of his sword to my chest, I glared at him in response, "I will not allow someone like you to touch my fiance." I was already moving at this point, dodging under the blade and hitting the young man's wrist, sending his sword flying into the air, I caught it as it came back down (it had twisted mid-air of course, I wasn't going to catch it by the blade), brandishing it at the young lord's throat. That's it, my temper got the best of me.

"How dare you call someone you don't know a lowlife," I growled at him in Shin Makoku's native language, startling everyone in the room, "Doing such a thing only brands you as one your-..." Wait, what had he just said? Fiance? I lowered the sword a bit, "Wait, did you just say 'fiance'?" he was to busy staring at me in surprise to respond. I turned around and faced Yuuri, "Did he just say 'fiance'?" I repeated to the wide-eyed teenager. He didn't respond. I looked around the room, frustrated that no one was answering my question. I snapped my fingers to get Yuuri to snap out of it.

"What?" he blinked.

"Answer the question, please."

"Yes, he did just say fiance." It wasn't Yuuri who answered the question but Conrart, who walked towards the front of the room. I looked at him quizzically, he was the only one who hadn't had a reaction to anything I'd done yet. "If you remember, you first showed up here when there was a duel between his Majesty and Wolfram. It was because His Majesty had proposed to him the night before."

"On accident!" Yuuri finally spoke, "You forgot to add 'on accident' Conrad." Conrad, that was much easier than Conrart, I like it, I'll call him that from now on.

"And HOW do you propose to someone, on accident?" I knew the answer as soon as I asked the question, because Champion spoke in my mind at the same time Yuuri did.

_By slapping someone on their left cheek._

"By slapping someone on their left cheek, apparently."

_Though, it only applies to nobles if I remember correctly._ Champion added. I sighed, rolled my eyes and ran my hand through my hair.

"And why'd you do that?" I asked. Yuuri looked slightly reluctant to answer, so before he did Conrad again answered for him.

"Wolfram insulted His Majesty's mother." What? Insulted Miko-san? I turned a fresh glare onto Wolfram. How dare he? Now _I_ wanted to slap him, but that would probably make matters worse.

"Okay, okay! I don't want to hear anything more." I waved my hands in the air to emphasize this and realized that I still had Wolfram's sword in my hand. I moved to hand it back to him, and he took it with a glare. He shoved it roughly back into its sheath and stomped back to his corner, I noticed that the other two had replaced their swords as well, though the slight shock was still apparent in their eyes.

"Ishi-... I mean Yuki," Yuuri started, correcting himself when I'd turned to glare at him, "How can you understand what we are saying now? How can you speak the language?" Crap... How can I explain this?

"Would you believe me if I said it was from a dream?" I asked, in all seriousness, it wasn't a _complete_ lie... I did learn everything I know now from a dream, though I got the language from looked like he was going to start laughing but at the look on my face must've stopped him.

"Really?" He asked, curiousity entering his voice, "From a dream? How? When? Do you know anything more?" I winced at the onslaught of questions, I should have known this was coming.

"Yes. Please explain to us how you know our language." That was Gunter, he finally spoke up. Aside from him yelling at Conrad outside the dungeon cell and muttering under his breath on the walk to this office I hadn't heard him say anything. I haven't heard Lord von Voltaire, the gray haired blue eyed swordsman standing against the wall close to Wolfram, speak yet.

"I... I kinda can't." I started, "Not effectively anyways." I saw Conrad look at me disbelievingly out of the corner of my eye as I turned to face Gunter, "I've just had dreams about this country before. Lived in it like a normal citizen of Shin Makoku. Not all of them the same..." I looked for the right word, "Ranking I guess you could say, Lord von Christ." That earned me more shock. I smirked slightly. I was enjoying this, probably more than I should be.

* * *

Thank you, if you got this far. If you want the next chapter feel free to Review and/or PM me. If you don't... Well I don't want to hear it so go away. Otherwise, Let me know what you think. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ONLY (Please) PEOPLE!


	5. Knowledge Revealed

WARNING! I DON'T OWN KKM! I REALIZE that my character develops into a Mary Sue and I DON'T care. The only 'god-modding' that my character ever really does (Spoiler, if you care) is she is able to use all four elements, I don't care if that's a no-no or whatever, I randomly thought of this when I was really bored one night at work and I wrote it down anyways. I did this for fun, if you don't like it. DON'T READ IT! Thank you. Have fun.

* * *

_ You have a twisted sense of humor, you know that right?_ Champion asked me.

Thanks.

_ I didn't mean that as a compliment, but if you prefer to take it that way... _she trailed off, _It's my sense of humor anyways._

"How do you know all of this Yuki?" I heard Yuuri ask.

"I told you already. From a dream." I shrugged, "I get a lot of things from dreams... But I've had more dreams about this place than I can count. And for as long as I can remember." I got a look of disbelief from him, "I'm sorry. I can't really explain it myself, because I don't entirely know." Yuuri rolled his eyes and shook his head, smiling.

"Okay then. I'll take that as an explanation for now." he said, ignoring the complaint that started to come from Gunter, "You wouldn't lie to me about this. I know you better than that." he smiled the smile that I'd come to know as his 'trusting smile'. I sighed to myself, this kid trusted people way too easily, but I wasn't lying to him. Not fully anyways, so I didn't feel as bad as I would have if I was.

"Thanks Yuuri." I told him, smiling just as wide as he was. A thought hit me then, he never explained how _he_ got here, I frowned, or did he? And was it when I spaced out? "By the way, young man, you never told me how and why your here? All I got was a slight shock coming in here finding out your the current Demon King. What's up with that?" He looked slightly embarrassed. Awesome, I thought to myself, he DIDN'T tell me. Now I won't feel like an idiot.

"I, uh..." he mumbled something under his breath, so I didn't hear him.

"You what?" I asked, "I didn't quite catch that." He mumbled something again, "Yuuri, speak up, I can't understand you." I had an idea suddenly flash in my mind, "[J] Would it help if you told me in Japanese?" I asked, transferring my words into said language as I did so. He smiled at me, apparently he never thought of that idea.

"Thanks." he said, "And uh... I got flushed down a toilet." he turned slightly red as he said it, I started laughing. Yuuri glared at me.

"You what?" I asked, between fits of laughter, "Wha- how'd you manage that?" He took a few minutes to explain, he'd seen some guys picking on Murata and, being himself, tried to help, getting a swirly instead when Murata ran off. "I see, knowing Murata he probably went to get help." I told him when he said he didn't quite know why the other boy had run off.

"Ya think so?" he asked, looking up at me. I nodded.

"Oh yeah. Definitely." I shook my head, shrugging my shoulders for the umpteenth time that day, "He wouldn't just leave someone who was trying to help him behind." Yuuri nodded.

"You're probably right."

We spent the next few hours talking, stopping our banter amongst ourselves to let Gunter explain things to Yuuri about being Demon King. I got to tag along with them for a tour of the castle even! Wasn't that exciting? I already knew Blood Pledge Castle top to bottom because of Champion's memories. The only things that were new to her were the portraits that we passed in one of the hallways. There were three of them. Yuuri, being the curious kid he was, of course asked Gunter who these people were, sending the lavender haired tutor off on a long ranting explanation about Shinou and the Daikenja, who were in the first two paintings. I myself was drawn to the third that was hanging to the right of Shinou's. It was Champion. I knew it immediately, not only because she looked just like me, but because Champion chose to say it herself.

"Hey Yuki, that lady looks a lot like you don't you think?" I heard Yuuri ask behind me, startling me slightly.

"Uh, yeah. I guess she kinda does doesn't she?" I managed to stammer out. I took a step forward and bumped into a table that was sitting below the painting of Champion. On it, sitting on a little stand, was a small knife.

"Who is that woman Gunter?" Yuuri asked, pointing to the picture, "And what is that knife sitting there for?" I answered the first question before Gunter had a chance to.

"That woman is the one called Champion. She was the more... Physical fighter of the main trio during the war with Soushu." I could see Gunter pouting out of the corner of my eye, something else I knew and hadn't told anyone. I think I was starting to annoy the poor man.

"Main trio?" Yuuri asked. This time Gunter got his say before I did.

"Shinou-heika, Daikenja-sama, and Champion. They were the 'big three'. Shinou-heika was... well, Shinou-heika. Daikenja-sama was the main strategist, and Champion was the fighter. She could use maryoku very well though. Rivaling in Shinou-heika's powers." Yuuri's eyes widened in what Gunter took as admiration, though I'm sure the poor boy didn't have too much of an idea as to what the man was talking about. He pointed again to the knife.

"And that?"

"That," Gunter started, "Is Scwiergkeiten. It was Champion's sword." I choked on laughter when he said the name, winning myself an odd look from Yuuri and Conrad, and a glare from Gunter. "I don't see what's so funny about it." he said snobbishly, I swear he would've stuck his nose in the air if Yuuri hadn't been there with us.

"I'm sorry, Gunter" I said, clearing my throat and trying to stop laughing. "It's just that, back where Yuuri and I come from that word means "Trouble" in another language." Yuuri laughed, I noticed Conrad hide a small smile, and Gunter just glared at me more. I giggled, coughed, and managed to straighten my face. "Continue." I told him, motioning to the knife. He kept glaring at me until Yuuri popped up another question.

"You say sword, Gunter, but all I see is a knife that could barely be called a dagger." Gunter cleared his throat and dispersed of his glare before looking back at his young Maou.

"It's not an ordinary sword, your majesty." I saw Yuuri flinch slightly at the title, he wasn't quite used to that yet, "Champion was able to change its size, shape, density, and the sharpness of the blade by channeling her own maryoku through the hilt and into the sword itself. I've heard she was able to send the elements into the blade as well," This was true, "But I'm sure that's just a rumor." Yuuri reached for the knife, grabbing it by its hilt and tried to lift it. The thing didn't budge.

"What?" he asked, "It's just a knife! Why can't I pick it up?"

"It was said that the only one who was able to lift the sword was Champion herself," Conrad answered him this time, "Even when it was small enough to be a kitchen knife, whoever tried to pick it up couldn't. It was as if the blade chose its owner, and didn't want to be used by anyone else. No one has been able to pick it up. It's been sitting there ever since Blood Pledge Castle was finished and Champion said she'd stop fighting." he shrugged, answering Yuuri's next question before it could be asked, "Yes, people have tried to move it, but no one's been able to pick it up." While he was talking, I touched the blade, closing my eyes as a friendly shock sent shivers up my spine. It was as if the knife/sword knew _I_ was Champion.

Yuuri sighed and rolled his eyes, "What is with some things in this world." he squinted, noticing something on the blade, "What's it say? I can't read it..."

"_I cannot be wielded, until a promise is made, from the heart of one who believes it. And if sealed with blood, I can hear what you say, and will see if you're one who could keep it."_ Gunter answered, "We aren't entirely sure what it means, but somehow if you make a promise to the blade it says it'll fight with you."

"Make a promise? To a knife?" Yuuri asked in disbelief, "How do you do that?"

_ It's simple really, _I heard Champion say in my head, _All you have to do is make a promise to it, cut yourself with the blade, and then grip the handle. If the sword decides that it will let you wield it it'll send a nice warm feeling up your arm and the cut you make in the palm of your hand will be healed. If not, you'll get a small, not so friendly shock that'll continue until you let go of the hilt._

So... I have to make a promise to a knife?

_ No, you don't have to. But if you want to be able to fight in order to help Yuuri-heika, and to help me find out why I'm still here, then yes. You probably should._ I could hear a slight bitterness to her voice.

All right, all right, no need to get snippy missy. Just tell me what to say.

_ There isn't really all that _much_ to say... It's apparent that the blade already knows that you're me, so all you have to do is make a promise to it... In your own words. If you want it to be you could even say it in another language, that way you can add in anything about me that you want to, or think that you need to._

Really? That sounds simple enough.

_ It is. I can't believe no one's figured out how to do it in all these years though... Still, I should be happy I guess. Cause that means it's here when we needed it the most. _I chuckled quietly at her words, noting that while our little conversation had happened, Gunter and Yuuri were trying to come up with an explanation for how the sword and it's 'promise' worked. I took the time given to me to figure out how I was going to word my promise. I decided that I'd say it in English, since that was a language I knew the people around me currently didn't know. Once I'd decided on what I was going to say I reached out and grabbed Scwiergkeiten, squeezing tight enough for the blade (surprisingly sharp for not having been used for thousands of years) to cut the palm of my hand, blood trickled out onto the blade. I heard Yuuri ask me what I was doing but I ignored him.

"[E] I make this promise to you, oh blade of my past, to find out why Champion's soul has spent years in this world, deciding to inhabit my own body. I also promise to you to use my body and soul to help protect the current Maou of this day and age, my friend, my little brother. Will you help me?" I let go of the blade and grabbed the hilt, waiting for its answer. It was swift in coming. I soon felt a warm tingling go through my palm and up to my arm.

"_I hear you, old friend. And help you I shall."_ A voice that wasn't Champion's spoke in my head. I smiled as I felt the small cut on my palm heal and I lifted the knife/sword from its stand, hearing Gunter and Yuuri both gasp beside me.

"But... but, no one's been able to figure out how to pick that up in thousands of years!" Gunter said his voice full of disbelief. I noticed that Conrad said nothing, but was now looking at me eyebrows furrowed in curiosity and something else. Awe. My chest fluttered. Did he understand me? No, that's not possible. He's never been to Earth... But thinking back on when I first saw him after he brought me out of the dungeon to Yuuri, there'd been a nagging in the back of my mind that I actually knew him from somewhere. Not just from the memories Champion had of his ancestor. I turned back to Gunter.

"I guess you just have to know what to say." I said nonchalantly, shrugging my shoulders in a mischievous manner.

"And what exactly did you say Yuki?" Yuuri asked, "I recognized that as English, but you know I'm no good with it..." I shook my head.

"Not telling. That would ruin the whole point of the promise."

She'd spoken the promise in English; he knew that before Yuuri pointed it out. But what did she mean by Champion's soul? He'd been right, she did know more that what she'd told everybody in the office earlier, but why wasn't she telling? And _what_ wasn't she telling?

* * *

This one took a while… Sorry ^^;; I got stuck in certain places, took me for-freaking-ever to come up with the whole sword-promise thing, I even asked supervisors and co-workers for ideas when I finally came up with it. Oh right, and the [E]/[J] means that that paragraph was in English/Japanese. I'll do that whenever I'm changing the base language that is being spoken. Because, for the most part it's all Shin Makoku's native language… and all thoughts are understandable by others XP


	6. Yuuri's Coronation

Standard disclaimers apply... I'm sick of saying it now...

* * *

The next few days went by rather quickly for me. I spent most of them in the room that I now called my own. Learning more about Schwiergkeiten, Shin Makoku, and my maryoku from Champion. Different kind of experience that is, learning something from a voice in your head. Makes me feel like I've gone insane really... I learned how to channel my maryoku into my blade to make it change to what I wanted it to. I also learned that I could use all four of the elements that a contract could be forged with in Shin Makoku. What I'd used when I first arrived here (to get Yuuri to put Wolfram down) had been a bit of Earth maryoku. I found I had a higher affinity to water than I did to the others, though. For it came to me with great ease. Since I didn't know much about wielding my maryoku to begin with, I found myself mimicking moves from an American TV show that I'd gotten addicted to while I was staying in the United States. It was called Avatar: The Last Airbender. I absolutely loved it. I used mostly what I'd seen of the Waterbenders. I loved how they moved. So fluid, just like water it made me smile everytime I watched it.

Anyways. I was now self-taught in my own ways of magic. I was rather proud of myself. Another thing that I'd done over those few days was learning swordsmanship with Yuuri from Conrad. I was already better than the teenager because of the fencing classes that I'd taken when I was little (as well as belonging to the clubs in High School, kendo, fencing, archery. I was everywhere!). I could tell by the look in Conrad's eyes when I first practiced with him that he was impressed by what I already know. He's still better than me, although I'm getting REALLY close to beating him. He said he actually had to defend himself like his life was on the line the other day. Not that I'd ever actually try to hurt him... I can't explain it but I feel... Calm, around Conrad... Yeah, that's the word. Calm. And happy. Very much that too... Not sure why. I made the mistake of asking Champion once and she laughed so hard I had a headache. She told me that she was going to let me figure it out for myself. Whatever that means.

I woke up to find the castle in 'activity mode' as I like to call it. Everyone was doing something. I made my way to Yuuri's office (Wow, not entirely used to that phrase yet. Yuuri having an office. I think I'm about as used to it as he is to being called 'Your Majesty'), to see what was going on. I found Conrad standing outside the door. Giving him a questioning look I made my way closer.

"What's going on? Something happen?" I asked him. He half smiled.

"His Majesty's coronation. Everyone's doing their part to help get everything ready for it." He replied.

"Oh, I see. That would make sense." I pointed my thumb at the door, "Gunter is in there yapping his ear off about what to do, isn't he?" Conrad laughed at that, giving me my answer without words. I turned to go down a different hallway, "I guess I'll leave him to it then. No matter how much Yuuri might want to be rescued, he's gotta know what to do." I winked and walked away. I spent the rest of the day wandering the castle and helping people with odd jobs here and there. It was quite fun. Hauling stuff around and even helping the maids in the kitchen (apparently to everyone's surprise...). The only thing I couldn't get used to, and wasn't entirely expecting, is everyone kept referring to me as "My Lady", or "Lady Yuki". I knew it was because of the color of my eyes and hair, but it completely caught me off guard. Especially with the maids. And despite me asking them to call me "Yuki", they just kept calling me "Lady". Downright nerve wracking I say. I also got a chance to meet Lady Cheri. The former Maou and (surprisingly) Conrad, Wolfram, and Gwendal's (Lord von Voltaire, I finally learned his name!) mother. The three of them didn't look anything alike! I found out why; not surprisingly enough they all had different fathers.

Finally all the preparations had been made for Yuuri's coronation and we were going through with it. I found myself standing up at the top of a flight of stairs next to Lady Cheri. I smiled to myself as I watched Yuuri make his way to us, looking completely nervous as he passed row after row of nobles (those I have come to consider as his "personal staff", [Conrad, Gunter, Wolfram, and Gwendal] among them). When he got up the stairs to Lady Cheri and I watched as she leaned forward and whispered reassurance in his ear. All he had to do was stick his hand in the waterfall. I smiled as he talked himself into it and shoved his hand under the falling water. I could tell by the look on his face he felt stupid.

I suddenly felt a tingling feeling go up my spine. Immediately after the sensation I heard Yuuri yelp as he was suddenly pulled forward into the waterfall. I jumped forward and grabbed onto the wrist that was currently in the water, and suddenly I was being pulled through it as well. I heard someone rush up behind us.

"Your Majesty! Lady Yuki!" It was Gunter and Conrad. The last thing I saw before I felt my mind go blank was Gunter grabbing at Yuuri's belt and it coming off. _That_ wasn't going to end well I knew it.

I opened my eyes and blinked in the harsh sunlight that suddenly bombarded my face. I looked around me. I was back in Japan! What the heck? I stood up with a sigh. Whatever, where am I? Oh, I'm in the park. Hearing an embarrassed yell I looked to my left and frowned. There were the public bathrooms and there was a small crowd of people standing outside the women's rest room. What could be going on there? I walked over and peeked over the heads of the crowd. My eyes widened slightly as I saw that Yuuri was sitting on the floor in front of a stall with a police man and Murata Ken standing in front of him (Murata was kneeling). I shouldered my way through the crowd.

"Yuuri. You okay?" I asked as I knelt down next to him, accidentally looking down to notice that his pants had taken a little trip south in the trip between worlds. I looked back up, feeling my face turn red and watching his turn even redder. I knew Gunter grabbing his belt would end bad. I helped him up and he quickly pulled his pants up. We made our way out through the crowd and started to head towards his house (Murata following us, asking if Yuuri was okay), grabbing his bike along the way. Murata turned off towards his house, yelling a cheerful goodbye and thanking Yuuri again. We continued the trek to the Shibuya house talking to each other, discussing what had happened in Shin Makoku. He made the small comment on what had happened to his belt and I laughed, explaining what had happened before we both lost consciousness.

After what seemed like forever we finally made it to his house. I hugged him 'round his shoulders. "See ya later Yuuri. Tell Miko-san 'hi' for me 'kay?" I smiled and waved before I kept going down the street. Thinking about the events that had gone by in Shin Makoku and how it appeared as if no time had passed here in Japan at all. I breathed in deep and let out a sigh. I wonder when I'm going back.

* * *

Ugh… short, I know. I was at a lack of inspiration for this… And I wanted to cut it off like in the episodes, where it's kinda done when we get sent back and the next one starts where we get sucked through again…^^;; I can tell you the next chapter is gonna be embarrassing for Yuki… Involving a bath… some water magic…. And…. Well…. ^^;;


	7. A trip through the bath

Standard disclaimers apply...

* * *

_Bzzzz Bzzzz Bzzzz Bzzzz_

I groaned, rolling over and punching the snooze on my alarm clock. Why was I waking up this early on a Saturday again? Oh, right. Because Yuuri asked me to help with a baseball team. I glared at the wall of my apartment. Damn that kid. What could I do though? I loved him to death, like a brother. That's what he is, my annoying, lovable little brother.

I sighed deeply as I rolled off the bed onto my feet. Might as well get dressed and get going. Had to make sure I wasn't going to be late for the first practice of the season. I have to admit. I'm glad the kid has gotten back into baseball. He loves the sport, and the only reason he'd seen for stopping before had been because of losing his temper and punching the coach. His explanation for getting back in was simply: "I had a talk with Conrad." Not that I really needed much of an explanation after that. I was curious as to how the man had known about baseball, Shin Makoku didn't have the sport.

* * *

"Good morning Miyuki-san!" I smiled as I got closer to Yuuri's house. Murata was standing out front, it appears we had the same thought to get Yuuri before going to the practice diamond.

"Good Morning Murata." I replied, "Yuuri not out yet?"

"I just got here, was about to ring the door bell actually." He pointed towards the door, walking up and pressing the button after he spoke. "Shibuya! Let's go!" he yelled. The door opened and Yuuri came running out, slamming it behind him. He kept up his pace around the corner in front of his house, despite Murata and my protest's. We both wanted to say hello to Miko-san. All we got in reply from him was:

"Let's go!" We looked at each other, rolled our eyes and followed him, yelling at him to wait up.

"Ah" I sighed contentedly as I lowered myself into the warm water of the bath. That had been a good pr

* * *

actice, if I might say so myself. I could hear Murata and Yuuri talking to each other in the men's bath next door. I couldn't quite make out what they were saying. All I know is I heard someone start singing. I knew it wouldn't be Yuuri doing that, and the tune seemed to suit Murata well. I heard something else, it sounded like Yuuri was panicking about something. Next thing I know I feel like I'm being sucked down a drain, and I find myself in Shin Makoku, in a bath.

I sat up groaning slightly, the 'trip' over made me a little dizzy. Being sucked down a drain can do that to ya I guess, now I felt like I was forgetting something… I looked over next to me to see Yuuri sitting up as well. I stood up and walked over to him, reaching down a hand and grabbing him by the arm to pull him up.

"You okay?" I ask. I realized what I'd forgotten when Yuuri turned to answer and immediately turned away, blushing furiously.

"Ye-yeah I'm fine. Um… Yuki…" It was my turn to feel myself go red. We were in a bath when we got sucked through, Yuuri wasn't wearing anything, I wasn't either. I did the first thing any normal woman would do in a situation like this.

I panicked. In true waterbender style I used my maryoku to get the water in the bath behind me to turn itself into a tidal wave, washing over my head and knocking Yuuri of balance.

"Your Majesty!" A panicked cry came from my left. I stopped the tidal wave, still blushing and stammered out an apology as I wrapped the water in a wall around myself.

"Oh my gosh, Yuuri. I'm soooooo sorry!" I started looking around for a towel and found a hand holding a jacket out to me. I didn't think I could get any redder, but I'm sure I did at that moment. It was Conrad's jacket. And, being a true gentleman, he was offering it to me with his head turned away. I dropped the wall of water, grabbed the jacket, and wrapped it around myself faster than even I thought possible, murmuring embarrassed thanks. Buttoning the jacket up I walked over to Yuuri and helped Conrad fish him out of the water. To my surprise the boy was laughing.

"There's nothing to be sorry about Yuki, you reacted naturally. For you that is." He shook his head, "Although I doubt any other girl on Earth would've been able to call up a tidal wave…" he stopped, noticing the glare that was starting to build on my face.

"Your Majesty! Are you all right?" I heard Gunter's voice again, and turned to see him coming up behind us. He shot me a glare before he latched his arms around Yuuri's neck, making me laugh.

"Yes, yes Gunter! I'm fine! Let go please!" Yuuri answered, struggling to keep his balance.

A few minutes and some dry clothes later (I was mildly surprised to find Schwiergkeiten in knife form amongst mine, I thought it was back on Earth with me, oh well) found us walking down a path towards a castle that, Yuuri pointed out much to Gunter's pleasure, wasn't Blood Pledge Castle.

"Well noticed Your Majesty. This is in fact Castle Voltaire." Yuuri looked at him.

"You mean it's-" he started.

"Gwendal's, yes." Conrad finished. I giggled at the look on Yuuri's face. We made our way through the castle, up to a room that resembled Yuuri's office back in Blood Pledge Castle. I found myself gazing out of one of the large panes of glass that was part of window at the back of the office, next to where Conrad had stationed himself and behind where Yuuri was seated.

"I absolutely refuse to go to war!" I must've spaced out for a few minutes. This statement brought me back to reality as I turned around to see Yuuri on his feet, hands pressing on the table in front of him. Gunter must've said something that had upset the poor boy. Gunter said something in reply, but I didn't quite catch it. The conversation was cut short as the door slammed open and Wolfram marched in. He came straight up to Yuuri and started yelling at him for disappearing in the middle of his own coronation. I sighed and rolled my eyes. Things were starting to get a little too noisy around here.

I started to head towards the door when Gwendal walked in. He called Yuuri 'it', and completely ignored his response and started talking to Gunter about the possibilities of something being a declaration of war, sending Yuuri off again. I decided to stay where I was. I should've stayed out in the garden. I crossed my arms and looked back at the window, seeing Conrad out of the corner of my eye. He looked like he was going to bust a rib trying to keep from laughing out loud. I found myself grinning slightly. It _was_ a rather funny situation going on behind me.

"Wait a minute Gwendal, where are you going?" I heard Yuuri ask. I turned around to see Gwendal walking stiffly towards the door. If I didn't know better I'd almost say it looked like something spooked the big guy. I found out something _had_ in fact, spooked him. Yuuri had started after him, Gunter had tried to stop Yuuri, but before Gwendal could even get to the door a nicely dressed woman with long red hair had come through the doors of the office.

* * *

Wahoo! ^^ Enter Lady Annissina! I love this woman! Yeah... I don't remember to much about the little 'arcs' that are in the series, so I'm sorry if upcoming chapters don't rock as hard as the ones I've updated before (in my opinion, I feel like I am wasting valuable computer space with them I think they suck so hard .). The really good parts come up in the areas that I've had planned out in my mind for months... like the Mateki arc, that one'll be fun... and then the one part of the series I absolutely HATE T_T A certain man decides to play idiot... That part will really affect this FanFic, I'm going to have fun with that (If you have seen the series you should probably be able to guess what I'm talking about) and then there were two other arcs... O_o don't remember which ones exactly, and then the end of the second season... those'll be the big ones... I hope... Maybe... I have them planned out in my head (repeating self... need to stop now).


	8. Lady Anissina is introduced

Standard disclaimers, yadda yadda yadda... . I'm tired of this, but it's necessary.

* * *

"Gweeeeeendal!" I smothered my laughter with my hand as I saw him cringe at his name. I didn't think Gwendal was scared of much but apparently he was terrified of this woman with red hair. I was curious as to why. The red-haired lady looked behind Gwendal to where Wolfram and Gunter were clinging to Yuuri in an attempt to keep the teen from moving forward.

"If you're going to wrestle go do it out side, you'll get everything all dusty if you stay in here." I couldn't contain my laughter any longer. I started laughing so hard I would've fallen flat on my face if Conrad hadn't been there to catch me.

* * *

"Oh, Your majesty. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you." We had moved to a more dining hall-like room. Gwendal was nowhere to be found. It was me, Yuuri, Conrad, Gunter, and Wolfram sitting at a normally sized table with the red-haired lady standing in front of us (It was me, Yuuri, and Conrad on one of the longer sides of the table and Wolfram and Gunter at both ends) "I am Anissina von Karbelnikoff. I didn't get a chance to greet you at your coronation." She crossed her hand over her chest and gave a slight bow. I noticed Yuuri blush slightly at the gesture.

"Ah, no, that's quite alright." He stammered, "Given the, ahem, circumstances." The waterfall. She turned her attention away from Yuuri and towards me.

"And you must be the one that everyone is calling 'Champion'." I stiffened involuntarily. Why? She looked down at where Schwiergkeiten was fastened to my belt, "Seeing that you wield that sword, I can say it'd be the perfect name for you." I felt myself relax. Ah... That's why. Because of the sword I wield. Well damn... Can't say I was entirely expecting that. Oh well. I smiled politely at Anissina.

"My name is Yuki, if you don't mind using that instead." She smiled back at me, just as politely.

"Of course Lady Yuki," I winced slightly at the honorific, "If that is what you prefer." I could tell there'd be no talking her out of the title... I sighed inwardly. Damn it. Hmm, I'm saying that a lot... Damn it. Lost in my own thoughts I missed out on what Miss Anissina was saying to Yuuri. I came back to reality when Wolfram stood up, telling Yuuri 'no' about something. Apparently Miss Anissina is an inventor! Hmph, whodathunk? She used Gunter to show us a couple of her "magical devices"... They didn't work very well... It was slightly embarassing, but she didn't seem to notice. The giant fan made a nice breeze though... But that isn't important. What's important is what Yuuri said while sitting there watching her demonstrations. He asked what he could do in order to avoid war. I saw Conrad's face soften slightly as he gave an answer, in short he told him to consult Gwendal, and thats exactly what he did. Again I found myself staring out the window during the conversation, only catching on to the nervousness in Yuuri's voice as he talked with the rather intimidating Lord von Voltaire.

"Melgib sword of the Demon King?" I heard him ask, "What's that?"

"Not Melgib, Morgif. And exactly what it sounds like your majesty. Morgif, the sword of the Demon King." Gunter sounded like he thought it was an obvious thing. I turned around.

"Like Excalibur, or Ragnarok Yuuri. The sword of the 'main character'." I gestured to my sword, "Or like Schwiergkeiten was to Champion." he looked less confused now.

"Oh okay! I see! So it's like a holy sword, right?" he looked around, everyone's face had a shocked look (except for mine I was trying not to laugh out loud).

"Of course not your majesty!" Gunter's voice was full of indignation.

"Then what is it?" Yuuri asked, confused again. I couldn't help it, I started laughing.

"It's a demon sword you dolt. Duh. What else would the sword of the _Demon King_ be?" I asked, rolling my eyes at him.

"Eh?" Yuuri looked even more confused, I decided to ignore that for the moment and turned to look at Gunter.

"So, do we know where Morgif might be?" I asked him. He nodded.

"Yes Lady Yuki. On Van da Via island." he had a slight grimace on his face. I searched my 'memories', trying to find the reason he'd have that look on his face. There it was.

"Ah." I sighed, realizing. "Human country."

* * *

Soon after, I found myself on a ship with Conrad and Yuuri. After we'd left the docks we found Wolfram had stashed himself away amongst our luggage. I scowled at him slightly when he mumbled something about coming along to keep Yuuri from cheating on him, and laughed when we found out he got seasick easy. I reached up to itch my eyes but stopped, remembering that I had contacts in and didn't want to accidentally knock them out. Yup. Color changing contacts, my eyes were now blue, _and_ I was wearing a wig. Instead of having beautiful black hair, my hair was now brown. Yuuri had brown contacts and a red wig. I don't remember whose idea it was to do this, probably Conrad's though. As much as I might not like it, it's a good idea. We'd certainly be recognized as Mazoku if we were to parade around with black hair and eyes in human's country.

It had been interesting, learning to put them in, since we didn't have immediate access to a mirror, which was stupid considering the fancy ship we were on, Conrad had helped us to put them in. I nearly had a nosebleed when he was helping Yuuri, the conversation that ensued there couldn't help but bring certain thoughts to my head, and luckily I'd recovered before anyone had noticed.

We spent most of the day exploring ship, Conrad was obviously upset that Gunter had put us on what appeared to be a cruise ship. Yuuri and I simply smiled at him, an odd feeling of relief flooding through me when he smiled back. And… something else… something that made my stomach flutter.

In the evening I found myself scowling at the men in my cabin from within the confines of a beautiful, yet simple, royal blue ball gown. It was a plain thing, the skirt flowing out from the top that simply looked like a nice blouse. I can't say I didn't like the top, but I definitely don't like dresses.

"Yuki you look amazing!" Yuuri said when I walked into the room after getting it on. I glared menacingly at the young Maou, who promptly hid behind Conrad who was giving me a weird look. I found that I couldn't glare at him. I felt my face heat up as I turned red instead, moving my hands up to fiddle with the necklace I was wearing. It was Schwiergkeiten in pendant form. Something that Champion had told (and in her own way, she'd shown it to me too) me would come in very handy if I were ever in a situation where I wouldn't be able to wear it sheathed at my side. I'd been looking down, so when Conrad seemed to have found his voice I looked up.

"His majesty is right, Miss Yuki. You look beautiful." His expression changed to one of an apology, "It's obvious you are quite uncomfortable with dresses, and I'm very sorry to have to insist that you wear this tonight." He bowed politely, "but it _is_ for your own good. The attention we might draw to ourselves if we allowed you to attend this party dressed as you would normally be for a formal event," he was referring to the fancied up version of the regular military-like uniform that I was used to wearing, and had worn during Yuuri's coronation. The maids of the castle had been more than willing to help me since I preferred breeches (and pants and shorts) over skirts, "I would not be able to guarantee the remainder of our journey would go without any problems." I sighed.

"I know Conrad. That's why; when I found out about this I had the help of Anissina with this…" I reached behind my back and undid a few clasps that were located just above my waist. I heard someone take in a sharp breath, I don't know if it was Conrad or Yuuri, as the bottom half of the dress dropped, revealing the matching royal blue breeches I had on underneath. No one said I'd have to look like a complete idiot and be mismatching, even if I wanted to be comfortable. I stepped over the skirt, smiling at the two in front of me. "This way I'm comfortable," I paused, unsnapping Scwiergkeiten from the chain around my neck and changing its size to that of a regular sword, "And I'm ready for a fight. If need be." I did a little flourish with my sword, shrinking it again and re-attaching it to the chain. Picking up the skirt part of my dress I re-did the clasps that held it to the blouse like top. I looked up to see a sort of smug grin on Conrad's face.

"Well, I am impressed." I could hear hidden laughter in his voice. I smiled, feeling slightly more proud of myself than I thought I would. I heard Champion scoff in the back of my mind. I refrained from rolling my eyes and instead curtsied to the best of my ability.

"Why thank you kindly Lord Weller." I giggled, the title feeling weird as it rolled off my tongue. I heard Yuuri's snort of laughter, I say Yuuri's because it couldn't have been Conrad, he wouldn't snort… I think. I looked at the teenager, smirking slightly. I straightened the skirt a little bit and gestured to the door, "Shall we get this over with then?" I asked cheekily. Yuuri nodded gravely, yet I could tell from the grin on his face that he was joking.

"Yes, of course, let us take our leave." He replied, gesturing to the door, "Ladies first." If it hadn't been in good humor I probably would've punched the kid. I laughed in a mocking manner and led the way to the upper deck.

* * *

Yay... . Finally an update... ^^;; I'm sorry for keeping those who are actually reading this and have it on their alerts list waiting... Anissina is in, Yuki, Yuuri, Conrad, and Wolfram are on their way to Van da Via Island, and Yuki hates dresses... Whoopeee... . Read and enjoy.


	9. Yuki doesn't like dresses

Oh my gods! I know, it's short... but that seemed a good place to cut it off... . I really don't want any reviews commenting on how short it is please...

Disclaimers, disclaimers, blah blah...

* * *

"Ugh! Disgusting!" I put my hand over my mouth, trying not to gag at the sight before me. Bones littered the deck. They were the bones of fish and other kinds of meat (animals) that would be normally served at a fancy dinner. Not only that, but there was half eaten bits of other kinds of food strewn everywhere as well. I looked past Yuuri to Conrad, both had looks of disgust, Conrad's less obvious. "Is this some regular human thing or something?" I asked, gesturing to the nasty sight before me.

"It would be in this case Miss Yuki, the evidence would be here before us." He replied. I was happier now more than ever that I'd been able to wear my boots hidden under my dress rather than high heels. I would have ended up killing myself trying to walk let alone dance!

We stood at the edge of the dance floor for a while, talking amongst ourselves about how nasty and unsanitary the human's habits here were before Yuuri was suddenly beset by women asking him to dance. I laughed at Conrad's response when Yuuri yelled for his help. Lucy for Yuuri he was rescued by an acquaintance we had made earlier that day, a man by the name of Heathcrife from Cavalcade. Yuuri ended up dancing with Beatrice, Mr. Heathcrife's daughter. I was smiling at the sight and laughing quietly to myself next to Conrad when I suddenly found _myself_ surrounded by men, all clamoring for me to dance with them. They looked slightly nervous and unsure of themselves, I found out later when I asked Conrad that it was because of the way I was standing (alert and ready for a fight) and because of the menacing glare I'd shot in their directions as they surrounded me.

They must've gotten over their nervousness, or at I'd assume so, because they started arguing with each other over who'd seen me first, much like what had happened to poor Yuuri. I was about to lose my temper with the fools when I felt an arm wrap firmly around my waist. Just as I was getting ready to turn and thoroughly bruise whoever it was that had done so, Conrad's voice rang out above the argument.

"I'm sorry gentleman, but this lovely lady is with me." He took my hand in his remaining one, keeping the other firmly in place around my waist. "Shall we dance milady?" he asked when I turned around to stare at him, mildly shocked. Conrad didn't really wait for an answer and quickly guided me through he crowd, leaving the dumbfounded humans behind us. I swear I could hear Champion cackling in my head at my shocked and confused state. I also know I'd turned redder than an American fire engine when I was able to fully comprehend what was going on. This also happened to be when we'd reached the middle of the dance floor. Conrad turned me around so we could dance properly and I found myself unable to look at him directly. I fixated my gaze, instead, on a button about eye level on his uniform. He guided my left hand to his shoulder, keeping my right in _his_ left, and then put his hand onto my hip. I let him lead. Not that I didn't know how to dance.

"Umm….. Thank you." I finally managed to mutter. Not sure he'd heard me, I looked up to see him smiling.

"You are most welcome." He laughed, "However, I get the feeling that the ones I've just saved were those human men back there. You looked like you were about to tear them apart." Oh. So it was the humans he'd been trying to save. I looked down again, "My reasoning, however," he added, rather quickly I thought, "Was getting you out of an obviously uncomfortable spot Miss Yuki."

Great, I thought, as I blushed harder, As if I wasn't red enough…

_Oh please,_ I heard Champion scoff. It had been a while since I'd last heard her talk, what with all that had been happening recently. _You are obviously enjoying yourself_ I had no idea what she was talking about and scowled inwardly at her, trying not to let my annoyance show on my face. I was going to reply with something when I was suddenly thrown forward into Conrad. I steadied myself with his help and we both ran over to the edge of the ship.

"What was that?" I gasped, looking around wildly. I turned to Conrad, who was looking to his right. Following his gaze I saw what had made the ship jerk so abruptly. It was another ship! Another ship had run straight into us!

* * *

oooooh! Something hath hit us ^.^ If you know your KKM you should know what it is.


	10. Pirate Adventure

HERRO! ^o^ FYI: if you find 'SK' that's supposed to have been changed to Schwiergkeiten. So that's what it tis there for... . I was being lazy...

Disclaimers: blah blah, don't own, blah, champion mine, blah blah...

* * *

"Pirates!" I took a sharp intake of breath at Conrad's statement.

"Pirates? Are you sure Conrad?" He nodded and started looking around, slightly frantic. I realized he was looking for Yuuri.

"Where is his majesty?" Yup, looking for Yuuri. I scanned the crowd, looking for the red-headed Maou. I couldn't find him, and I could tell by the look in Conrad's eyes he couldn't find him either.

_ Try going back to the cabin_ Champion Suggested to me. I relayed the idea to Conrad, who looked relieved at the suggestion.

"That sounds like a good idea Miss Yuki. Let's go!" we both headed off towards the cabin.

* * *

I felt relief flush through my system as we heard the tell tale signs of Yuuri panicking and Wolfram complaining as we got closer to our room. I felt myself calm down a little, the rush of adrenaline that I'd had at the start of our frantic search for the young Maou dissipating. Conrad opened the door, almost ripping it off its hinges.

"Good." I heard relief flood his voice, "You _are_ her. Thank Shinou!" I stood on tiptoe, looking over his shoulder and smiling at Yuuri and Wolfram. I didn't say it out loud, but I was just as relieved to find Yuuri here.

"What's going on Conrad?" he asked, voice full of worry, "Have we hit an iceberg? Are we going to go down like the titanic?" I couldn't help laughing. Yuuri glared at me.

"Nothing like that your majesty." I could hear laughter in Conrad's voice, "However, it's nothing good. The ship is being attacked by pirates."

"Pirates!" Yuuri and Wolfram echoed. I nodded, pushing past the two and detaching my skirt for the second time that evening. I threw it on the bed and grabbed the sword I'd brought with me as a backup for Schwiergkeiten. I figured it'd be a good idea to use a normal sword here so we wouldn't be immediately branded as Mazoku.

I heard Conrad arguing with Wolfram and turned around to see him pushing his blonde-haired younger brother into the closet with Yuuri. Yuuri said something I didn't quite catch, but I heard Conrad's reply.

"If anything happened to you Your Majesty Gunter and the people would cry." I was strapping the sword to my side as I walked up behind him.

"What about you Conrad?" I winced at the question, already knowing the man's answer, "Would you cry for me?" I saw Conrad's shoulders tense.

"If that were the case I'd be seeing you soon somewhere else." He shut the door before Yuuri could reply, but I saw the confusion on the teen's face. Conrad stepped back, drawing his sword.

"You ready?" I asked a mischievous glint in my eyes. It had the effect I wanted. Conrad gave a short laugh, nodding. I drew the sword at my side, having taken Schwiergkeiten from its chain and hiding it in a seam on the inside of my shirt. I was prepared. "Then let's go."

* * *

Our fight didn't last as long as I wanted to. We were overwhelmed, outnumbered. And none of the other passengers were doing a damn thing to help us, or themselves! I did see one of the women who had been hitting on Yuuri earlier putting up a fight. She was a strange one to say the least. Looked kinda like a man with boobs! Her biceps looked to big… The orange haired woman was overpowered with us. Instead of putting her and I with the other "well-behaved", "normal" women we were forced to sit with the men. I would've had Schwiergkeiten out in a flash, but Conrad stayed my hand when I reached for it, shaking his head. So I sat, fuming, in silence.

My 'meditation' of anger was cut short when I noticed a group of pirates escorting two people onto the main area of the deck. I felt my heart stop momentarily and my face paled as I recognized Yuuri and Wolfram.

"Damn it Yuuri." I muttered under my breath, "How'd you get yourself caught?" I glanced at Conrad, but couldn't read his expression. I'd been so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn't realized the captain of the pirates had been speaking until the crew gave a gleeful shout.

"No! Please! I don't want to die!" I looked up sharply as a nicely dressed gentleman stood up, pleading. He was quickly knocked down. I tensed; about to jump to help him when there was a cry to my right. Turning sharply I saw one of the pirates trying to drag Beatrice behind him by one of her pigtails.

"Beatrice!" Mr. Heathcrife stood up, yelling for his daughter.

"Father!" there were tears in the little girl's eyes. I could tell she was scared, and that her pigtail being pulled on was hurting her. Anger and indignation hit me like a tidal wave. I saw some of the pirates getting closer to Mr. Heathcrife; they were going to beat him down like that other guy! Before Conrad or the lady both Yuuri and I had dubbed "Ms. Biceps" could stop me I was between Mr. Heathcrife and the pirates, Schwiergkeiten out of the hidden seam in my shirt and in my hand. They laughed at me because to them it looked like I was planning to fight them off with a pendant.

I growled and was about to change Schwiergkeiten to its full size and length when the boat suddenly shook. I could feel Yuuri's maryoku before I even saw him in his 'maou form'. What Yuuri created was even more disgusting than the human's eating habits. He created a giant wingless Kotsuhizoku with the scraps that littered the deck. Pirates were running around frantically, trying to get as far away from this new monster as they could.

Well… There goes my funI thought mutinously to myself. I put Schwiergkeiten back into the seam in my shirt. And we'll be in trouble now… They know we're not human. I sighed as I saw the kanji for Justice written in the air about the "monster's" head. I made my way quickly over to Yuuri and caught him as he collapsed. The terrified screams of the pirates mingled with the suddenly excite voices of the passengers.

"Look! It's Big Cimaron!" Someone cried as Conrad and Wolfram joined me. Wolfram looking even paler than he had earlier.

"Shit." I cursed under my breath. I looked at Conrad. Yup, we're in trouble now.

* * *

Joyous day... The pirates are defeated and we're ALMOST to Van da Via *eyeroll* I'm sorry if they seem short . It's just that I seem to be finding good places to stop and then taking less time to get there than I thought I would...


	11. Finding Morgif

Standard disclaimers and blah blah blah...

**I guess I've also got to mention that my characters are PURPOSEFUL MARY SUES! I DON'T GIVE A (*^# OKAY? I have fun writing them, I mainly just have the storyline edited with my character in it. Whoopty *$&*# Do. GET OVER IT!**

* * *

Okay… so we weren't in as big of trouble as I'd thought we'd be, but we were still in trouble; after Yuuri had passed out our ship had been boarded by the Big Cimaron Navy. They chased away the pirates, but when they asked around some of the other passengers ran their mouths about there being mazoku on board and we'd been arrested. We were thrown into a makeshift dungeon/prison cell type room on the Big Cimaron patrol boat. I was glad they didn't try to search us, but warning glance I'd gotten from Conrad told me that I should probably keep Schwiergkeiten hidden away.

We'd been on the Big Cimaron ship for about two days before Yuuri finally stirred. I leaned forward from where I was sitting next to Conrad as the teen's eyes opened.

"Well hello there Sleeping Beauty." I joked, "You have a nice nap?" Conrad smiled with his eyes while Wolfram shot me a glare.

"Ugh… What happened?" Yuuri asked as he sat up rubbing his head. I left the explaining to Conrad and Wolfram. I wanted to forget the nasty happenings from the ship as soon as possible. We all stiffened suddenly as we heard a scrapping sound coming from the door. A small_ click_ and the door opened, revealing a tall man with red hair and startlingly blue eyes. I felt Conrad relax.

"Hi there Your Majesty!" The man said with a wink. "I'm here to rescue you!" he made a peace sign, and I couldn't help giggling, he seemed so care free. I frowned slightly, he looked vaguely familiar. Yuuri was looking at him blankly.

"Do I know you…" He asked, sounding as confused as he looked. The newcomer stared at him in mock horror.

"Oh your majesty! You mean you don't recognize me?" he struck a little pose, placing a finger on his chin, tilting his head slightly and managing to look coy. "Shall we dance?" he asked. Yuuri's eyes widened, as did my own.

"Miss Biceps!" we exclaimed together. The man smiled, standing up straighter. Conrad had stood up; he placed a hand on the man's shoulder.

"Might I introduce Josak Gurrier. He's one of our country's top spies, in service to Gwendal." Josak waved his hand, feigning embarrassment as the soldier went on, "He's been following us for some time now, as a back up in case something like this," he gestured to our surroundings, "happened." I could tell by the twinkle in both men's eyes that they were old friends. I stood up holding out my hand so that Josak could shake it.

"Pleasure to meet ya, Josak." I smiled at him, turning to give Yuuri a hand up. I ignored the glare that we received from Wolfram. "Shall we get going?" I asked as I took one of the swords Josak had brought in with him, Conrad and Wolfram took the other two. My companions nodded and we carefully made our way out of our cell and to one of the lifeboats on the upper deck.

* * *

We managed to safely and quietly make it off and away from the ship. After an hour or so I took over the oar Wolfram had been using. The young lord looked exhausted, more so than any of the rest of us. When he didn't argue or glare at me I realized just how tired he was. I know rowing a boat isn't easy, I found myself getting tired as well, but I was stubborn, I was determined to row all the way to Van da Via island.

A mist fell upon us as dawn approached, I could see the faint shape of a mountain through it. I smiled, almost there! I pointed the mountain out to the others. Everyone seemed more awake after that, with the exception of Wolfram. Josak started singing a song which, after the first verse, I realized I knew as well. I decided to add my voice to the mix and Josak looked at me in surprise, but kept on singing; his tenor voice blending well with my soprano. We finished the song as we felt the bottom of the boat scraping sand. I grinned widely at my companions before jumping out of the boat and onto dry land.

Nobody really talked as we made our way up the mountainside. It would've us more tired than we already were, although, I already thought Wolfram looked dead on his feet. About halfway up the mountain we came across a small inn. We ate lunch and decided to leave Wolfram there as we went the rest of the way; the blonde had pretty much passed out as soon as he'd sat down. We were coming back to the inn for the night anyways, we didn't see any problem with leaving him behind. I gazed at my surroundings as we got closer to the spring the innkeeper had told us about. It was beautiful, the perfect mountain setting. I was in my own little world and so I hadn't been paying attention to any kind of conversation that might have been going on between the other three.

"Josak! You cannot speak to his majesty that way!" I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of Conrad practically yelling at the red-headed spy, who was shrugging at the front of the group. I frowned, the impression I'd gotten from the two earlier had told me they'd been friends for a _very_ long time. I shook my head; it must've been because of something that was said while I wasn't paying attention. I put my hand on Conrad's shoulder and tilted my head, looking at him quizzically and asking my questions with my eyes. He shook his head, I shrugged and kept walking.

I'm not sure why, but tensions seemed to be running high between Josak and Conrad for the rest of our trek up the mountain, even when we all climbed into one of the canoe-like boats hen we reached the hot spring. As we entered the cave that led into the mountain; a further part of the hot springs, it suddenly got unbearably hot. I started tugging on the collar of my shirt. I was grateful now that I'd had a chance to change out of the silk blouse that was the top of that pretty blue dress I'd been wearing. That would've been _so_ uncomfortable as soon as I'd started sweating, what with it being _silk_ and all.

"Ow! Damn that's hot!" I'd been about to comment on the heat when Josak suddenly cried out in pain. I looked back at him, leaning around Conrad who was between us, and saw that the red-head was cradling his left hand which was rapidly turning red and swelling as though it had been burned.

"It can't be _that_ hot can it?" Yuuri asked voice full of curiosity. Before we could stop him, he'd dipped his hand into the water. Instead of yelping in pain, or reacting as though the water were as hot as Josak had said, Yuuri simply sighed pleasurably. "This is perfect bath temperature! It's not hot at all." He smiled at us, pulling his hand out of the water. I frowned slightly confused.

"Well, my hand is hurting like hell." Josak muttered, "Look, it's already swollen to twice its size!" He held his hand out to us to see and, as Yuuri leaned forward to look, a drop of the water from the hot spring that was still on his hand dripped onto his pants. I heard a sizzling sound and Yuuri was suddenly up jumping around and yelling in pain. Before he could capsize us I grabbed his wrist and pulled him down.

"Knock it off idiot!" I hissed, "You're rocking the boat." I frowned, "I thought you said that the water felt good, and now it's burning you?" Yuuri shook his head and shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm sorry." He rubbed his thigh, where the water had dripped. While he thought, I carefully climbed around Conrad to where Josak was still cradling his hand. He was right, it was swelling really bad. I reached my hand out to him.

"Lemmee see it, okay?" he hesitated for a second before I grabbed his hand. To be honest I wasn't sure as to whether or not this would actually work, but it was worth a shot. Closing my eyes, I reached into myself to connect with my water maryoku, it was harder than normal because I was already exhausted, and to top it all off we _were_ in human territory. I managed it relatively easily though, and while this happened I dropped my body temperature, a little trick I've been able to do ever since I was little. I used to use it to fake sick from school when I didn't want to go, but I'm not going into that now. My hand glowed, and cooled as I touched Josak's hand. The red headed spy sighed in relief.

"There, is that better?" I asked, removing my hand. Josak nodded, his eyes slightly widened with surprise. I knew why, I wasn't technically supposed to be able to use my maryoku on human lands. I blinked, feeling quite dizzy all of the sudden and fell back into Conrad, who caught me, "Thanks." I muttered, putting one hand to my head. I frowned, I hadn't been thinking on the water problem due to the fact that I had been helping Josak, but I had an idea all the same. I was getting ready to say it when Conrad started talking.

"Pardon me your Majesty..." he started, "But, please take off your clothes." I blinked in surprise, that was what _I _was about to say.

"Wh-what?" Yuuri spluttered, I turned my head to see him turning bright red.

"Well, the water seems to be enchanted by the Demon Sword being in it right?" I supplied, "So it seems that it will not burn you and only you. But your clothes aren't you, that's why when the water dripped off your hand and onto your pants it burned you." Yuuri was looking at me in surprise turning, if possible, even more red.

"Yuki, you can't be serious." he started to refuse.

"Just do it damnit." I growled, letting my headache-dizziness get the better of my temper and cutting off any further arguments. I turned my back on him, closing my eyes, an indication that I wouldn't be paying attention whilst he undressed. I smiled slightly to myself as I heard him grumbling, but a little further coaxing from Conrad and I heard the tell tale signs of Yuuri taking his clothes off. A few minutes later I heard a splash. Turning, I saw Yuuri making his way through the water towards something that was glittering on the floor of the cave. When he got there, he took a big breath and plunged his hand under the water, reaching for said object.

"YEOUCH!" I heard him scream, "That thing bit me!" he cried, "Now I'll be cursed!" he ranted about the story the innkeeper down the mountain had told us and started heading back towards the boat, still going on about curses and such.

"Your Majesty please, calm down." Conrad tried calming the frantic teen, who kept raving. "Come on back to the boat, we can try later."

"Yes, calm down your Majesty. You aren't going to be forced to do anything you don't want to do." I heard Josak say slightly condesendingly behind me. I saw Conrad glare at him and Yuuri stiffen.

"What do you know?" Yuuri yelled at him, "What the hell do _you_ know?" My eyes widened, Yuuri really wasn't happy about this, "You weren't the one who got sucked into an alternate world, then suddenly called the king when you got there! No one even asked me what _I_ wanted!"

"Your right," Josak snapped, "What do I know. I'm just a soldier whose supposed to follow his majesty's orders no matter what." He sounded slightly bitter as he said this. I wondered why. I looked to Conrad, whose expression had suddenly gone sad.

"Why don't you come back to the boat your majesty? We can try again later." I felt bad for the guy. There was obviously something behind Josak's words, but I doubted that neither the soldier nor the red head would be willing to tell me about it.

* * *

Everyone was quiet as we made our way back to the inn. I mean _unusually_ quiet. It was eery... Conrad and Josak had distanced themselves from each other, Yuuri walking quietly between them with me. I didn't like this kind of quiet, but I didn't want to say anything to break it. When we got to the inn, we kind of all went seperate directions; Yuuri to the room he shared with Wolfram, Conrad and Josak (still seemingly avoiding each other) to theirs, and me to mine. The evening passed relatively swiftly, I ended up waking up later in the evening from an unitentional nap. Hearing a door open and close I got up and headed towards the hallway. Peering out and around my door I saw Yuuri with his ear pressed lightly against Josak and Conrad's room, obviously eavesdropping. As I slowly made my way toward the teen I could hear the men talking inside. I can't quite really say what was said, but I heard something about Luttenberg, and how Conrad was known as the Lion of Luttenberg, but it was all cut off rather quickly when Josak said something and Conrad snapped at him. I then tapped Yuuri on the shoulder, causing him to jump, and gestured to move down the hall a ways. We ended up outside.

"You okay?" I asked him, noticing he looked slightly depressed.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." He was thinking hard about something, it was obvious to me. I smirked slightly, he'd heard more of the conversation than I did, but I could guess what he was going to do.

"You're going back to the spring, aren't you?" I asked, "To get Morgif?" He looked at me with widened eyes.

"I... um, yeah. I am." He looked at me suspiciously then, "You're going to follow me. Aren't you?" I nodded once, already heading out the door and towards the spring.

* * *

Yuuri was quiet for the entire trip back up to the spring where Morgif was located, didn't say a word. I let him take a boat by himself into the cave and stood waiting back on the shore. I wasn't waiting for very long before I turned to see Conrad coming up behind me, an unreadable look on his face. I simply smiled at him, then turned back to watch the cave's entrance. Soon after that Yuuri came paddling back out, Morgif wrapped in a towel and leaning against his shoulder as he paddled. His grin grew wide as he saw Conrad standing next to me on the shore, and we smiled back at him. Mission accomplished, Morgif was finally obtained!

* * *

Okay, this took for-freaking-ever to write... because nothing much changes in this little Morgif arc with Yuki other than the fact that she's THERE... . So... I'm going to skip the 'finding out Morgif's full name' part of it when they are getting chased by everyone and all that jazz in the human lands... The same d#$ thing happens as does in the anime... . Morgif loses his stone, Yuuri entrusts it to Josak, Conrad threatens Josak because of the 'testing' Yuuri, except this time around Yuki kinda intervenes a bit... Knocking the two's heads together about it ;) if you know what I mean, she gives them both a small lecture about trusting each other more (technically this would be before the entrusting of Morgif's stone to Josak, but whatever eh?). I tried to make this chapter a little longer due to the long wait which is because; 1) Writing 'spirit'/'inspiration etc. has taken a road trip and didn't tell me where it was going 2) I'm not allowed to write at work anymore . apparently we cashiers haven't been paying enough attention to the customers or whatever and we are not allowed to do any 'extracuricular activities' at the register anymore... leaving us BORED AS F#$... anywho, that's all I really have to say right now. I'll try to get the next part up as soon as possible (I'd already started on it a while back ;) )


	12. Enter Ulrike

I do not own KKM. I do own this version of that universe though, the KKM characters just happen to be making guest appearances ;)

NO FLAMING WILL BE PERMITTED! IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE FACT THAT I HAVE AN IMAGINATION THEN I WILL FLIP *&^% RIGHT BACK AT YOU -_-

******I guess I've also got to mention that my characters are PURPOSEFUL MARY SUES! I DON'T GIVE A (*^# OKAY? I have fun writing them, I mainly just have the storyline edited with my character in it. Whoopty *$&*# Do. GET OVER IT!**

* * *

It was a nice day, a warm day, and I'd definitely say I was enjoying it. It had been a few days since Yuuri and I returned to Japan after finding Morgif. I was currently at the baseball diamond with Yuuri and Murata. It was a practice session for our baseball team, one before a game and I must say, the team was doing a great job in practice. I was impressed. Murata and I watched as Yuuri put them through drill after drill. They were currently on a practice game. I felt a slight pang of envy. I was too old for this league, but I missed playing the sports I did in High School all the same.

Practice went quicker than I'd thought possible. Usually standing on the sidelines and watching made things go by slower, but not today.

"Good job today everyone!" Yuuri shouted to the members of the team as they all went their separate ways, "Remember to wear your blue uniforms to the game!" We were walking alongside the fence that blocked off the riverbank with Murata when Yuuri noticed a baseball on the other side of the fence and jumped it to reach the ball.

"Careful Shibuya!" Murata called after him before his attention was drawn away to a team member who called for him. Yuuri bent over to pick the ball up, but when he straightened he lost his balance. He teetered as I jumped the fence to catch him. However, although I was able to grab him, we fell into the river anyways because I'd managed to slip on some mud. I cursed under my breath and splashed Yuuri when the teen laughed.

"Not funny Kid." I growled. I shivered suddenly and felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I immediately grabbed Yuuri's wrist and not even a second later we found ourselves being dragged under the water by an unseen hand, or at least that's what _I_ felt.

We sat up, coughing, in an elaborate fountain within the stone walls of a castle-like building. I don't know why, but I suddenly felt very uncomfortable. There was something else mixed in there, but I didn't have time to identify it for there was a scream to my left.

"Eeek! A man!" I turned and saw a group of women staring at Yuuri, looking scared. I snorted, Yuuri was anything _but_ scary. In response to the cries a group of female guards carrying pikes came out to the fountain, surrounding us. They pointed their weapons at us.

"Who are you? No men are allowed to enter Shinou's Temple without permission!" _Thats_ why I'm so uncomfortable... It's _his_ temple. I felt a slight pain behind my eyes all of a sudden, like someone was trying to get into my thoughts, it was a similar pain to what I felt when Champion talked to me, but this one felt like it was actually trying to harm me, or at the very least get something out of me. I stood up, pulling Yuuri to his feet with me, while at the same time brushing the pond leaves off of his hair.

"I'm terribly sorry," Yuuri started saying, before he was cut off by a collective gasp that was quickly followed by squeals of delight. "My goodness it's his majesty!" "Oooh! His majesty!" and "Is that the Lady Champion?" Were some of the cries that I could hear. I grinned lopsidedly as I saw Yuuri blush. The guards who'd had us surrounded knelt immediately in the water of the fountain.

"Forgive us your majesty! Lady Yuki! We did not recognize you!" Yuuri waved his hands in front of himself.

"No, no! It's alright!" he exclaimed, turning slightly more red. He turned slightly towards me and muttered under his breath, "In all my 15 years I've never even had a girl so much as _look_ at me... Now this happens practically wherever I go!" he sounded bemused.

"His Majesty is obviously very cut in this world, an therefore very popular with the ladies." I replied cheekily, grin widening as Yuuri elbowed me playfully in the ribs. "The only thing missing now is..."

"You CHEATER!" Speak of the devil... I rolled my eyes as Wolfram stomped into view, angry gaze directed towards Yuuri. Behind him trailed Conrad, with is usual smirk, and Gunter who looked worried (like usual). Both of them carrying towels. Taking the initiative, (and wanting to get away from Wolfram 'lecturing' Yuuri) I bounded out of the fountain to Conrad and took the towel he was holding with a smile.

"I thought men weren't allowed in Shinou's Temple?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"We're allowed in if we have permission from the shrine maidens." he explained. He turned his head towards the fountain as Yuuri managed to get away from Wolfram long enough to climb out and take the towel from Gunter.

"Where did you say we were Yuki?" He asked, obviously having missed the entirety of the conversation I'd just had with Conrad. I rolled my eyes slightly and opened my mouth to answer him, when it was answered for me by a female's voice that came from behind us.

"You are in Shinou's Temple, your majesty." A little girl with extremely long silvery-white hair came walking out of the shadows of the Temple's pillars. Gunter made a bowing-like motion when she walked past him, which slightly confused me. How important _was_ this little girl?

"I'm sorry little girl, who are you?" Yuuri asked, tilting his head to the side slightly in confusion. Gunter laughed, genuinely laughed.

"This is Ulrike; she is the head Shrine Maiden here at Shinou's Temple. Don't let her appearance fool you your majesty; she's well over 800 years old." He explained.

"Oh, okay. Pleased to meet y- Wait what?" Yuuri cut off his original reply to nearly screech in disbelief. "She's over 800 years old?" His jaw had dropped, and to be honest, so had mine. I can't say I'd been expecting that either. Ulrike blushed slightly. She walked forward, grabbing Yuuri's hands.

"It is an honor to meet you your majest-" she was cut off as Wolfram appeared out of nowhere between the two, causing Ulrike to let go of Yuuri's hands and step back slightly.

"I will not have a woman touching my fiancee" he stated, sounding matter-of-fact. I growled slightly under my breath. My patience with this man was already a short string. I could feel it beginning to fray dangerously. Everyone else just stared at him, slightly surprised. Then they shrugged as Ulrike frowned, and Yuuri rolled his eyes. Gunter and Ulrike then proceeded to give us a tour around Shinou's Temple. We stopped when Gunter asked a sudden question.

"What brings you out of the hall of oracles Lady Ulrike? You almost never leave." Ulrike just smiled and shrugged as she led us down some more stairs and through a large set of doors into one of the most amazing rooms I'd ever seen. There was water going down every wall into little pools that were set around the entire room, with a little raised platform towards the back. I felt even more uncomfortable here, sensing a presence other than our own that was even stronger than what I felt outside in the courtyard area.

"What is this place?" I heard Yuuri ask in awe.

"The hall of oracles." Ulrike explained, "It's where I can hear the voice of His Majesty Shinou."

"Wait. Isn't he dead?" Yuuri asked incredulous and confused. Ulrike giggled.

"Well, sorta I guess. His soul resides here in his temple. So we shrine maidens can hear his voice." She walked to the platform at the back and turned around smiling, "It's his power that is able to bring you to this world, your majesty." Yuuri stared at her slackjawed.

"So, you're the one that brings me here?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head, trying to take it all in. Ulrike nodded.

"Sort of, it's his majesty Shinou. But He does so through me." She answered.

"Okay… So why am I here this time?"Yuuri asked, Ulrike looked confused, "Some princess needing rescued or something or other?" I smacked my forehead. The kid was still treating this like it was some sort of game. Ulrike looked down, twiddled her thumbs (or an equivalent of that), then looked back up again, blushing slightly.

"To be honest, I just wanted to meet you your majesty. Everyone else got to meet you already and I told his majesty Shinou that that wasn't exactly fair, since I can't leave the temple," I stifled Yuuri's surprised outburst at this statement in order to let the head shrine maiden finish, "So he brought you over here to meet me." I let Yuuri go when I was sure she'd finished.

"You can't leave here?" he asked, surprised. Ulrike nodded, "But that's not good for you! You need to get outside for some fresh air and exercise every now and then." Ulrike blushed harder.

"You're too kind, your majesty. No. I have to stay within Shinou's Temple." She interjected politely.

"Your Majesty, since you are going to be here for a while why don't we see if we can't get some of your work done whilst you are here." Gunter piped in, "And let Lady Ulrike get back to what she was doing before." He bowed to the Shrine Maiden and made his way back out the giant doors we'd come through. I smiled as Yuuri rolled his eyes and said his goodbyes to Ulrike, Wolfram butting in again when the two shook hands. Bowing to Ulrike I turned to follow everyone else.

"Oh. Lady Yuki, Lord Weller." Ulrike's voice caused me and Conrad to turn around and look at her questioningly, "If anything were to happen to either of you his majesty would be very upset." I looked at Conrad, then back to Ulrike and smiled.

"We know." We said in sync with each other, making me giggle slightly. We both bowed again to the head shrine maiden and made our way out of Shinou's Temple to where everyone was waiting with the horses. We found Yuuri rubbing the muzzle of the black horse he'd ridden through town when he'd first arrived here (At least, that's what I was told, since I didn't actually come in until later _after_ that). He made a big show of petting the horse and then decided it's name would be Ao.

"Blue?" I asked, slightly amused. "It's a black horse Yuuri…" I raised an eyebrow and laughed as he waved off my comment. I shook my head and sighed. I ended up riding double with Conrad since, apparently, everyone forgot that I'd be coming along with Yuuri when he came into the world of Shin Makoku.

There was big pomp and circumstance as we made our way through town. I shoved my face into the back of Conrad's jacket, slightly embarrassed by having everyone staring at me. I swear, I'll never get used to so much attention. Conrad stopped his bay for a moment when a little girl ran up to his horse to give me a bouquet of flowers. This made me blush harder than I already was. I think I was about as red as a tomato at this point. I punched Conrad lightly in the ribs as I heard him laughing in front of me at my obvious embarrassment. I was grumbling under my breath by the time we'd made it back to the castle and I could get out of the clothes that I was wearing, they were still damp by the way. I walked from my room to Yuuri's office where I could hear him hard at work. Boy can that kid complain. I laughed as I left the poor kid to his misery, laughter turning into a yawn as I came to realize how tired I was. Hours had passed since we'd arrived at the castle, and after riding double for the first time in years I felt slightly sore (I like riding alone, thank you very much). On my way to my room I decided I'd make a visit to the stables, or pasture, whichever I got to in the morning to talk to the stable master about a horse of my own. The moon was rising as I changed into my night clothes and bundled myself into the bed in my room.

* * *

OH MY GOD! That was horribly painful to get out! T.T I'm SOOOOOO sorry that took so long guys. I couldn't remember/figure out how Ulrike came in… . that's the only problem that kept me so long… That and my muse decided to take a vacation again without telling me… Then she came back and hit fast and hard that I finished up a whole Nightmare of Yuki's (in Dreams and Nightmares by the way ;) go check it out! Please!). And then this little piece as well ^.^ I hope you guys enjoy this. And that you go and read Dreams and Nightmares! There are a few spoilers in it because the nightmares and stuff happen at different times (depending on when I think them up and place them) but most of them would be after where the second season of KKM ends. If you want some ConradxOC fluff moments I suggest you go check it out ;) and if you have an idea for a dream or nightmare PM me! (but specify which you want) Thanks!


	13. Out of her nightmares, into his arms

I do not own KKM. I do own this version of that universe though, the KKM characters just happen to be making guest appearances ;)

NO FLAMING WILL BE PERMITTED! IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE FACT THAT I HAVE AN IMAGINATION THEN I WILL FLIP *&^% RIGHT BACK AT YOU -_-

******I guess I've also got to mention that my characters are PURPOSEFUL MARY SUES! I DON'T GIVE A (*^# OKAY? I have fun writing them, I mainly just have the storyline edited with my character in it. Whoopty *$&*# Do. GET OVER IT!**

* * *

_She was on her way back to her room after an evening walk in the courtyard garden. it had been a lovely night, the full moon was out. She started to pass an office whose door was slightly ajar. Voices could be heard coming from inside. She stopped to listen, noting that the two voices were ones she'd recognize anywhere._

_ "Please, Your Majesty. You have to at least tell her."_

_ "No. I've made up my mind. No one other than you knows. Nor do they need to."_

_ A frustrated sigh._

_ "Your Majesty, Ple-"_

_ "No." The second voice cut the first off. She felt her chest tighten as fear suddenly gripped her, they were talking about her. What did he need to tell her? She heard a sigh of defeat._

_ "Very well," a pause, "You are aware that she's probably the one who cares about you the most? You should tell her."_

_ 'Tell me what?' she screamed in her head, growing even more anxious. She heard a grunt._

_ "I am aware of this. And I know she'll be less than thrilled. Even with part of the truth. Don't tell her EVERYTHING."_

_ "That'll make her even MORE angry."_

_ The voices continued on after that butr she'd heard enough. She padded quickly and quietly past the door and back to her room, her head racing with questions as she changed and climbed into bed._

_ Something was wrong. Just walking around the castle she could tell that something was wrong. The answer hit her like a smack in the face when she entered the throne room._

_ He's gone. She looked around at downcast faces, finally meeting eyes as black as hers. This couldn't have been what he'd wanted his majesty to tell her? There was more, there had to be more, she blinked as she felt tears sting her eyes. No, she hadn't cried in decades, she couldn't break down now. That couldn't be everything, he couldn't just be... gone. There was more, a definite reason, one that made sense, but her emotions got the better of her. She felt her knees buckle and she fell to the floor as tears made it past her defenses and started rolling down her cheeks, she fell forward onto her hands and started full out sobbing. Only one person standing around in the throne room made a move towards her. She felt gentle arms wrap themselves around her shoulders and she knew who was hugging her._

_ "Hey now, it's all right." She heard a whisper into her ear. She tried to ask the woman holding her if she knew what happened but couldn't get the tears to stop long enough to get the question out, instead she threw her arms around her shoulders and cried. Looking over her shoulder she noticed that there was only one who was holding himself slightly different from the rest. She narrowed tear filled eyes at him, while at the same time asking her questions with them. He just looked away. Closing her eyes she resolved that he and His Majesty were up to something and she'd get to the bottom of it. Figure out why exactly they had put her through so much hurt and pain..._

* * *

I sat up in my bed with a jolt, tears running down my face. I let out a strangled sob as I threw off my covers and climbed out of the giant bed in the room that I called mine in Blood Pledge Castle. I didn't bother to put any sort of shoes or slippers on as I bolted out the door and ran for the courtyard I'd seen in my dream. I came to a stop in front of a rather large gardening spot, filled with all sorts of different colored flowers and fell to my knees.

Champion? What was that? I asked, referring to my dream. It didn't help that she didn't answer. She hadn't answered any of my mental callings for a while lately. I now had so many questions to ask her. I knew that I'd seen some sort of memory that was hers. From when SHE was alive. The voices she'd heard in that office were those belonging to His Majesty Shinnou and the Daikenja. The people in the throne room were the Ten Aristocrats, the one who'd hugged her, tried to comfort her, was Lady Celi's ancestor. The one she'd glared at, the Daikenja, had been hiding something with Shinnou. Although the soukoku man had tried to convince Shinnou to tell her. The reason behind why he was gone. Something else was afoot.

And I knew it was up to me to help her figure it out. I wiped at my eyes, slightly surprised by the fact that I was still crying. I didn't know that a dream could affect me so much in such a way. I laughed humorlessly, how long had it been since I last 'bawled my eyes out' (so I called it). I couldn't remember. I was so preoccupied with my crying that I hadn't heard the footsteps coming up behind me.

"Miss Yuki? What are you doing here so late?" I nearly jumped out of my skin. I whipped around to find Conrad standing behind me. He frowned as he noticed my tears and knelt down to my level. "What's wrong?" he asked. I guess I was still startled from him showing up out of nowhere, or it was still the effects of the dream that I'd just woken up from, but I did the first thing that popped into my head.

I threw my arms around his waist and hugged him. Crying into his jacket. I must've surprised him by doing so because he almost fell over backwards. I felt him put down the lantern he'd been carrying as he hugged me back, putting one hand around my shoulders and one on the back of my head. I could vaguely hear him trying to calm me down, shushing me like one would a crying baby, trying to figure out what was wrong, even though I couldn't (or somehow didn't want to) answer him.

He finally gave up on asking me what was the matter. I was still crying into his jacket when he suddenly started to sing. I was mildly surprised, he had a very nice singing voice. What surprised me even more was the actual song that he was singing. It was an English song that had been one of my favorites when I was younger. 'Love Me Tender' by the American widely known as Elvis Presley. I wanted to ask him how and why he knew this song, but I was a little to distraught at the moment, _still_ crying into his jacket. I knew I had to stop. Had to calm down, he wouldn't have a scrap of dry clothing left if... I... didn't... stop... soon... I felt my eyes closing slowly as I drifted back off to sleep, finally feeling slightly embarassed that I, a grown woman, was being sung to sleep like a baby.

* * *

She was falling asleep, Conrad could feel it. He moved into a more comfortable sitting position (rather than partially kneeling) and let her adjust herself as he kept singing the song. He wondered if she knew the song. He'd learned it back when he was on Earth, before he'd come back to Shin Makoku.

Now the bigger question was, 'What was she doing out here?', as well as why she was crying. Miss Yuki was the last person he'd expect to find crying in the castle courtyard in the middle of the night. The impressions he'd had of her since she first shown up had been quite the opposite of one who'd cry without being able to stop. How she'd tackled Yuuri when Wolfram's fire almost hit him. The way she'd boldly stood when she appeared in the bath at Gwendal's castle, despite being naked. He felt himself turn red at the memory. Of course she hadn't noticed that for a while and had almost drowned everyone in the bath with her water maryoku when she did, stopping once he'd offered her his jacket.

Conrad's thoughts were cut short as he felt her fall asleep completely, squeezing closer to his body as she did so. He decided to wait a few more minutes to let her fall deeper into sleep before he'd move and take her back to her room. He felt her move, laying down completely with her head on his lap. He looked down. She smiled in her sleep.

"My don't you two look comfortable." It was his turn to nearly jump out of his skin. He turned his head, sighing when he saw the familiar green eyes of his mother.

"Mother. What are you doing out here so late?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow.

"I could ask you that same question Conrart dear." she gestured to the sleeping girl on his lap, smiling to herself as she saw her son's face turn slightly red as he answered her.

"I was making my usual round of the castle when I heard her run out of her room. I followed her here and found her crying." he answered, "I don't know why she was crying," he added before Lady Celi could ask, "All I know is I asked, and suddenly she had attached herself to my waist." He looked at his mother quizzically when she smiled knowingly.

"She 'attached' herself to you because she finds comfort in you my dear." she said, answering his look, "She must've had one really bad nightmare, I'd assume. Usually one can't speak of the nightmare until one finds comfort after awakening from it." she smiled, another answer dawning in her mind, "She likes you Conrart. More than just as a friend, and I think everyone knows it to." her smile widened as he turned red, "And you like her back, don't you?"

"I-uh." Conrad couldn't answer her. It's true, he liked her, but he'd always figured it was the same sort of 'like' he shared with Yuuri. He cleared his throat, adding a little bit of an eyeroll and head shake, "Um. Whatever you say mother." He figured Yuki was in a deep enough sleep that he could move her without waking, he stood up, holding her cradle style in his arms, "I'll just take her back to her room now." He walked off quickly, wanting to leave before she could say anything else. He made his way to the room Yuki called her own, noting that she'd left the door wide open in her hasty retreat from her bed. Walking over to the large four-poster bed in the room he set her down and pulled the covers up to her chest. He turned to leave but was stopped short when something pulled on the arm of his jacket. Yuki had grabbed his sleeve in her sleep. Gently he pried her fingers off and laid her hand across her chest, she smiled up at him in her sleep and he found himself smiling back. Maybe Mother was right he thought as he left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

* * *

*squee* ^o^ this one actually made me start crying with Yuki as I was writing it. And yes, I took the Conrad singing "Love Me Tender" from the novels, because he sings it to Yuuri from what I've heard... if not, well it's one of his character songs and it would make sense that he'd learned it when he was on Earth and in the UNITED STATES! ^o^ So yeah. HELLZ yeah! ^^ I hope I didn't get him TO out of character ^^;; I'm not good at writing character's whose personalities are already laid out for everone to know.

Yup! Two updates in one day ;) to be honest, this one was already typed out and ready. I just needed the perfect time to throw it in there... . and I thought after Ulrike and during that little mini-arc that is of no great importance would be a perfect spot... ^o^


	14. Yuki's Weakness?

I do not own KKM. I do own this version of that universe though, the KKM characters just happen to be making guest appearances ;)

NO FLAMING WILL BE PERMITTED! IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE FACT THAT I HAVE AN IMAGINATION THEN I WILL FLIP *&^% RIGHT BACK AT YOU -_-

******I guess I've also got to mention that my characters are PURPOSEFUL MARY SUES! I DON'T GIVE A (*^# OKAY? I have fun writing them, I mainly just have the storyline edited with my character in it. Whoopty *$&*# Do. GET OVER IT!**

* * *

I can't say I was in the _best_ mood when I woke up the next morning. I hadn't exactly gotten the perfect night's sleep. On top of that, no one had bothered to notice that I'd overslept and come to get me up by the time I'm usually awake. I'm no judge of time since its flow is different in Shin Makoku, but I'm usually up with the sun. When I woke up it was almost NOON! Not happy in the least… I was muttering curses under my breath as I got dressed and marched to the door, pulling my long black hair back into a ponytail. I pulled the door open and went to head out, still glaring and muttering to the floor, not paying any attention as I walked right into the person standing right outside my door.

"Oof!" I heard the air rush out of their lungs (I'd hit their stomach area). I stepped back and turned my head up to apologize.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so-." My apology caught in my throat as I realized it was Conrad. I felt the blood drain from my face as last night's events came flooding back through memory. The nightmare and Conrad being the one to find me in the courtyard and comfort me. Next was all my blood rushing _back_ to my face as I turned three shades of red at the memory of breaking down and crying like a baby in his arms… I was _wondering_ how I'd ended up back in my room this morning. He must've carried me after I passed out.

"You are finally awake I see." I heard him say after I'd looked away in embarrassment. There was a chuckle in his voice.

"Yes. No thanks to anyone else." I snapped, I looked up to see surprise cover his face, "I'm sorry," I said, sighing, "I just hate oversleeping… It puts me in an unusually grumpy mood when it happens." Conrad just smiled at me and nodded in understanding, "Is there something you needed?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"Not really. Just wanted to make sure you were okay." I looked down again. He was talking about last night.

"Yup. I'm perfectly fine, thanks." I said as cheerfully as I could. I needed to get out of there... It felt extremely awkward. I fidgeted slightly, I think he could tell I was nervous, for he nodded and turned to leave.

"That's good to hear. Now, if you'll excuse me." He started to walk down the hall.

"Ah, Conrad." I called after him; he stopped and turned, "About last night... Thanks." He smiled, nodded, and then continued down the hallway.

"No problem, Miss Yuki." I ran my hand down my face. I could feel it burning under my fingers I was so red. Sighing I turned to walk the other way, deciding I needed some fresh air. A walk in the woods outside the city walls would do me good I thought. So that's where I headed, bypassing the stables (where I _had_ planned to go), I headed out the front gates of the castle and left the city, without running in to anyone. _That_ was surprising. I was expecting to at least see Yuuri.

* * *

Now, this was much better. The wood outside the city walls is beautiful. Nicely refreshing and calming. Helping me to get over my bad mood from not being awake by dawn. It was getting dark; I hadn't realized I'd been out here for so long. I paused, wait a minute... I _hadn't_ been out here for that long. A storm is coming. Not good. I nearly jumped out of my skin as lightning flashed over head and it began to rain. Being in a denser part of the woods, I didn't get _to_ wet. And at least it wasn't...

_Crack! Kaboom!_

I panicked. There was the worst part of storms. Thunder. I'm terrified of thunder. Stupid, yes, I know. Thunder is the one part of a rainstorm that can't hurt you. Well, I guess if it's loud enough it can blow out your eardrums, but other than that, harmless right? No. I was scared. I _am_ scared. And when I get scared, my senses like to seriously screw with my head. Fun thing is, my imagination likes to help them out. And I've got one hell of an imagination. So, naturally, I tried to find somewhere to hide until the storm passed. There was no way in hell I was going to walk all the way back to Blood Pledge Castle in a freaking thunderstorm. No way. On top of the thunder, it had started to rain harder. Now I was soaked through my uniform. And it was muddy as hell in the woods. I slipped, naturally, and fell right into a puddle. I quickly found a hollow in the trunk of a tree big enough to curl up in. Pulling on some of my fire maryoku to light a small patch of dry leaves and twigs to keep me warm (Don't worry, I made sure that it was too wet for anything _else_ to catch fire. Last thing I want is a forest fire).

* * *

Back at the castle, before the storm started, Conrad and Yuuri were playing catch in the courtyard during a break in Yuuri's paperwork. They noticed the clouds come in over the sun and were under the cover of a roof by the time it had started raining. Conrad noticed that during the time they were tossing the baseball back and forth Yuuri had seemed somewhat distracted.

"Is something the matter, your majesty?" he asked.

"It's just Yuuri; Conrad." was the automatic reply, "Not really. I just haven't seen Yuki anywhere today. Have you? She isn't still asleep is she?" Conrad smirked.

"No, she's awake. I believe someone saw her leaving the castle grounds shortly after she'd woken up. I haven't heard anything about her since; I don't think she's back yet." Yuuri fidgeted, Conrad frowned, "Why? Is something wrong?" Yuuri shook his head, looking uncertain.

"Well... No, she'd kill me if I told anyone else." Conrad's curiosity was roused now.

"What, Yuuri?" He asked.

_Crack! Kaboom!_ Yuuri flinched slightly.

"Crap." Was all he said. "Yuki is..." he paused, "Well, she's..." Now it was Conrad's turn to feel worried.

"Don't tell me she is scared of thunderstorms." Yuuri nodded.

"She's terrified of them. But you tell her I told you that and she'll kill both of us." He leaned on the railing in front of him and stuck his hand out into the rain, "I hope she's okay. She always goes into a state of panic if she's alone in a thunderstorm. It's scary really. Seeing someone who is normally so calm and unafraid of anything panic like that." Conrad wasn't entirely listening; he was staring out into the rain now looking towards the front gates, hoping to see Yuki coming through them at any second.

* * *

_Crack!_

Thunder boomed again in the distance, followed quickly by a bright flash of lightning. I huddled further into my hollow as I could hear creatures running around in the rain, my imagination turning them into ghouls, monsters, and the such. I nearly jumped out of my skin as I heard something stumble and hit the ground to my right. Slightly fearing what I might see, I peered around the edge of the tree trunk. There was the form of something huge lying in the mud. It twitched and stood up. I saw it's ears perk up and swivel towards my hiding spot, I immediately scrunched back as far as I could go, my little fire already extinguished. I shut my eyes and willed the large creature to leave as I heard it snuffling around the side of the tree. Then all noise stopped. Well, except for the rain, that kept going. I opened my eyes and nearly screamed as I saw the thing standing right in front of me, staring me down. I pulled back in fright and, to my surprise; the large creature in front of me did the same. It also made a noise that surprisingly enough, calmed me down. It whinnied quietly. This large creature in front of me was a horse! I don't think I'd ever seen one so big. Carefully, trying not to startle it, I stood up. Poor thing, it was covered in mud, much like me. I couldn't discern what color it was, but I was able to find out its gender. Male.

This stallion was huge! The top of my head came level with the lowest part of his back! He was built like a freaking Clydesdale, though I couldn't tell what breed of horse he was, since he was covered in mud, and I'm not much of a horse genius. He stood there patiently as I walked around him, surprisingly calm around a human for a wild horse. I'd expected him to run away long before now. He watched me the whole time, though. His large dark chocolate eyes following me as I walked in a circle around him, until I was in front of him again. I reached out to him, slowly, to see if he'd let me touch him. He ended up shoving his nose into my hand. It felt weird, since it was covered with mud, but I didn't mind. I giggled like a little kid as I wiped a bit of it off of his muzzle.

_Kaboom!_

Thunder struck again in the distance. Startling me so bad I jumped and latched my arms around that which was closest to me, the stallion's neck. As soon as I realized what I'd just done, practically attacking a wild animal, I jumped back. Hoping he wouldn't rear or kick me somehow… The stallion just stood there calmly, he even lowered his head and turned to look me in the eye with those big brown eyes of his. I felt tears come to my eyes. I'm not entirely sure why, but I suddenly just started crying. I sat down in the hollow of my tree and cried. I haven't cried so much back to back as I have from now and last night in so long. It almost felt good. I heard the stallion nicker and felt something wet and cold on my cheek. I laughed harder as I realized he was trying to comfort me. Cupping his muzzle between my hands I kissed him right on the tip of his nose, regardless of the mud that caked it. I hugged him as best as I could from my sitting position. What the stallion did next surprised me, he used his nose to push me forward, and then lay down under the tree behind me! Thunder crashed again and I thankfully pushed myself closer to the stallion's warm body, hoping the storm would pass by quickly.

* * *

Here ya go guys! Another update ;) Turns out Yuki's biggest weakness is thunderstorms! Who would've guessed? She lives through nightmares, deals with them rather well, but she doesn't like thunder in the least! And who is this random stallion? ;) You'll see


	15. UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE 3

This is for those of you who might possibly be only on updates for this particular story of mine. I wanted to let you know I've decided to try writing Champion a bit differently and am therefore uploading one under the name of Champion v2.0 3 My muse has come back to me in a form other than the one that originally visited when I first started writing THIS version of Champion and to be completely honest, makes the revealing of some things later in the story a much, MUCH easier task 3 I appreciate you guys following me this far and I hope the other version I'm coming out with for you of Champion holds your attention like this one does

Ta 3

Yuki


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